Where Do We Go From Here
by dontmakemeatarget
Summary: This is a sequel to my story 'Our Little Secret'. Golden Swan. Does contain the F word...just FYI.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well I finally got around to writing a sequel to 'Our Little Secret'. This will be a multi-chapter, but I'm not exactly sure how many yet, but probably not a whole lot. Anyways please read and enjoy and if you feel so inclined to leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated.

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As Emma sat in her Bug watching as Gold drove away in his Cadillac, she began to wonder what he meant by his closing remarks. He'd said he was glad their secret was out, but what did he mean by it? She wanted to think it meant he wanted more than just this sex thing they had going on but Emma wasn't too sure how she felt about that.

She did like Gold, _a lot_, and she liked having sex with him, _a lot_, but was she ready to start something more serious than that?

Part of her got those old, long forgotten, warm and fuzzy feelings thinking about an actual relationship with Gold. But the other part of her wasn't sure she wanted to let those sorts of feelings invade her once again. It had been a long time since she had felt anything more than lust and a need to satiate certain desires of hers for anyone. And it sure as hell didn't help when she recalled the fact that the last time she had felt those warm and fuzzy feelings had been for Gold's son.

_Shit that really makes things awkward _Emma thought to herself.

It was much easier to ignore her past with Neal and his connection to Gold when they were just fooling around. It's not as if they had done a whole lot of talking when they got together. Hell, they had never even really discussed what they were doing, it just sort of happened. Gold made some offhand joke about sexual tension between the two of them and the next thing either of them knew, they were hooking up.

It was never really planned, their little get-togethers; they would run into each other in town, at the diner or what-have-you and then they'd end up in bed with each other back at Gold's house or his cabin. It had never felt "cheap" afterwards though, like it had with other people. Gold always treated her well after, never rushed her out or jumped up right away and got dressed, he was a gentleman about the whole thing and she liked that but it still had always been just sex; that much had been clear from the start whether it was explicitly stated or not.

Or had it? Maybe Gold's joke hadn't been as offhand as she thought. Perhaps he had been serious about their sexual tension and had wanted more than just sex from the start but had taken what he could get. She'd only offered sex, never staying around for too long afterwards, never rushing but never too keen to stick around either. Had she possibly been blind to Gold's attempts at a relationship all this time, she began to wonder.

A light tap at her window brought her out of her thoughts, startling her a bit, causing her to jump in her seat. She turned to see who was knocking, rolling down her window upon seeing Archie standing there.

"Sorry, did I scare you?"

"No, it's fine, just caught me off guard, that's all. I was just, uh, thinking." Emma replied.

"Yeah, you looked pretty concentrated," Archie, commented. "What are you doing just sitting here, is your car broken down?"

"Oh, no, I just um, left something in the station. I had to come grab it, I was just leaving."

"Ok, well, I just thought I'd come check on you when I saw you just sitting there. I'll just get on with walking Pongo. See you around, Sheriff."

"Yeah, thanks. See, ya." Emma replied. Emma then pulled away from the station, glad of Archie's interruption. She probably would've sat in her car thinking for hours if he hadn't. Somehow Emma didn't think her mother would believe for a second that she had simply been thinking all that time. No doubt there were a dozen different scenarios she'd think Emma had gotten into with Mr. Gold and Emma really didn't want to have that discussion.

A few minutes later, Emma was walking back into her apartment. It was quiet when she got in. She figured everyone must have gone to bed so she decided she'd head upstairs to get some shuteye as well.

"You were gone for a little while." Mary Margaret stated startling Emma.

"Jesus!" Emma exclaimed clutching her chest. Mary Margaret was giving her that knowing look she had been hoping to avoid. "I wasn't gone that long," she replied after getting her bearings. "And what the hell are you doing creepin' here in the dark anyways?"

"I was waiting up for you. I'm actually surprised you came back."

"What do you mean, where would I have gone?" Emma asked, though she was pretty sure what her mother was implying.

"I kind of thought you might have gone back home with Mr. Gold."

"That's not really how this thing works," Emma replied, shaking her head.

"No? Why don't you tell me how it does work," Mary Margaret commanded, giving Emma her best motherly look.

"Is this going to turn into some kind of lecture?"

"Not at all. You're a grown woman, Emma; I've missed the part of your life where I can give you lectures. I just thought that maybe you might want to talk. You look like you've got a lot on your mind; you have ever since you came down for dinner."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know…you just look like you could use someone to talk to."

"Yeah, maybe I could," Emma admitted rather reluctantly. She'd never really been the kind of person who talked about feelings and the like, but maybe that was just because she'd never had anyone who wanted to listen.

"I'll grab a couple glasses of Scotch," Mary Margaret sighed as she turned around to grab a tumbler for herself and Emma from the cupboard. "So," she began as she sat down next to Emma at the table, sliding Emma's glass to her. When all Emma did was take a rather large pull from her glass, Mary Margaret decided she'd have to get the ball rolling on their little discussion.

"No offense, Emma, but…why Gold?" She asked trying not to sound like she was judging Emma for her choice in men.

Emma raised her brow at her mother giving her a stern look.

"I'm not judging, I'm not," she clarified; _at least I'm trying not to_ she thought to herself. "He's not a bad looking guy, but…" she trailed off furrowing her brow in question.

"Look I know you see him as Rumplestiltskin and everything but, you know, I just—I don't; I never did. And really, 'he's not bad looking'? I think he's better than 'not bad'." Emma replied, taking another swig from her Scotch.

Mary Margaret gave a light chuckle, helping herself to a generous sip of Scotch as well before continuing. "I suppose so. How did this even start?"

Emma gave an exaggerated sigh, raising her glass for yet another sip. She set her glass down with a light thud before answering.

"I don't know. I went to talk to him about something at his shop…Christ, I can't even remember what it had been about now. Anyway we were talking like any other time I've gone to see him, some light banter and whatnot and then he made some comment about sexual tension between us."

Mary Margaret just looked back at Emma, nodding her head for her to continue.

"When he said it, it was like some kind of trigger or something went off in my mind, like one minute I was blind to all the flirtation and sexual tension between us and once he said the words it all just hit me; I saw it all for what it really was. I _had_ been flirting with him, a different kind of flirting than I'm used to I guess but flirting none the less," Emma went on, a far off kind of look in her eyes as she spoke, her head turned away from Mary Margaret. It looked as if she had mentally transported herself back to that day and was looking in on the events as a third party, seeing it all really clearly for the first time.

"And what, you kissed him? He kissed you? What?" Mary Margaret asked eagerly.

"Well he was just so close to me, you know? He always does that, gets right up in my face when we talk, giving me that damn smirk, looking right through me with those fucking brown eyes of his, coming at me with his lips parted…" Emma suddenly got a wistful look in her eyes as she recalled that last bit of her tale, still looking off to the side.

Mary Margaret reached out and snapped her fingers in front of Emma in an attempt to return her to the present. "Do I need to get a hose?" Mary Margaret joked.

Emma blushed furiously. "Very funny, no, I'm fine."

"So, he kissed you, then what?" Mary Margaret pressed on.

"Well, um, I'm not gonna give you all the details but let's just say that one thing led to another and I ended up back at Gold's place wrapped up in bed with him."

"Hmm, I'm a little surprised you made it all the way to his house," Mary Margaret joked, "seeing as how he's got that bed in the backroom."

Emma raised her head a bit to look Mary Margaret in the eyes, raising her eyebrows, "Well…" she replied, clicking her tongue.

"Emma!" Mary Margaret exclaimed, giving her a light slap on the shoulder.

"What?! I'm sorry, well, no I'm not really, but what do you want me to say?" She asked, barely concealing her laughter.

Mary Margaret took another swig of her Scotch, letting out a long sigh as she placed her glass back on the table. "Oh Emma, I don't know, maybe I shouldn't have suggested talking to _me _about all this." At Emma's slightly downcast look, Mary Margaret continued, "Hey I'm only joking you can talk to me about anything, okay? I know it might not always feel like it, but I'm your mother and you can't talk to me about anything."

"Yeah, I know," Emma said, and she looked like she meant it.

"So have you two been, like, dating?"

"Um, no, not really…it's just sorta been…well, sex." Emma answered failing to find a way to say that more delicately.

"Ah, I see," Mary Margaret said, raising her brows. "And now that it's not a secret anymore…?"

"That's just it, I don't know. Gold said he's glad that it's not a secret anymore and I think he means he wants more, you know, like a relationship."

"Really?" Mary Margaret commented, genuinely surprised. "And what about you? What do you want?"

"I don't know. I mean, I don't know if I'm really ready to be in a relationship again, it's been a long time and it's not really something I've ever been good at, you know? And besides, I don't actually know that Gold wants a relationship, it's all just speculation. Maybe he's glad the secret's out so that this whole thing can end and he doesn't have to end it and risk looking like an ass or something…"

"Well, you know what you should do." It was a statement, not a question.

"What's that?" Emma said, though she knew what her mother's response would be.

"Talk to him about it," she said, placing her hand on top of Emma's where it rested on the table. "Good night, Emma."

"Good night," Emma said as Mary Margaret got up from the table and headed to her room. Emma took the final sip from her glass and headed up to bed herself. As she tried to fall asleep, all she could think about was what she would say to Gold the next time she saw him.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and interest in this story. Here's chapter 2, hope you all enjoy it. Review if you'd like :)

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Emma awoke the next morning even more tired than when she had gone to bed the previous night. She'd lied in bed staring at the ceiling trying to figure out how to approach Gold and what she might say. She tossed in turned the rest of the night, dozens of different scenarios playing out in her dreams. By the time she woke up she hoped she didn't run into Gold at all that day and could just avoid the issue altogether and deal with it another time.

Reluctantly Emma got out from under the warmth of her covers and headed to take a shower before going into the station. She took her time, letting the hot water wake her up. As she washed, she tried not to think about what had almost happened the last time she'd been in the shower. Something like that, however, was hard to not think about.

After showering and getting dressed she threw her hair up into a ponytail, not really feeling like putting too much effort into her look that morning, and then headed downstairs. Henry was waiting for her by the kitchen table.

"Hey kid, ready to head to the bus stop?"

"Yup, I'm all ready to go."

"Great," she said heading to the door and ruffling his hair as she passed him.

Henry followed her out and down the stairs. Emma had taken to walking him to the bus stop every morning just to be able to spend some time with him. Since things were calm in the town for the time being, she wanted to make sure she didn't let that time go to waste. They always talked and joked on the walk and it was her favorite part of the day.

"So why did you invite Mr. Gold to dinner last night?" Henry asked.

_Shit,_ Emma thought. That was the one thing she didn't want to talk to Henry about. At least not yet, not until she figured everything out. If things with her and Gold stopped, she probably wouldn't tell him anything, and if they continued…well she had made a promise not to lie to him anymore so she wouldn't, she would tell him about her and Gold—At least as much as a kid needed to know.

"Oh, um," _How do I answer this and not lie to him?_ "I, uh, I don't know I just did. I didn't plan on it, I just sort of asked."

Henry tilted his head sideways as he looked at her. He looked confused.

"Well I think it was nice that you did."

"Really? I didn't think you liked Mr. Gold all that much."

"I didn't at first really. He was kinda scary but he's not really that scary. And he's family now too."

_Ugh, don't remind me_, Emma thought.

"Plus he's always been nice to me. I don't mind him so much."

"Yeah? That's good I guess. I don't mind him so much either, kid," and then she ruffled his hair again.

They talked a bit more as they walked, Henry telling Emma about what he was going to do at school that day. She listened attentively and chimed in when she had something to add.

"Are you going to ask him to dinner again sometime?" Henry asked, catching Emma off guard as they arrived at the bus stop.

"Uh, I don't know."

"I think you should," he said as the bus pulled up in front of them.

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"I think he'd like it," Henry replied simply turning around to get on the bus.

"Why do you think he'd like that?" Emma called after him as he put on foot on the steps of the bus.

"Because I think he likes you," then he walked up the rest of the steps and the bus doors closed behind him.

Emma just stood there at the bus stop a completely dumfounded look on her face, her mouth agape. She stood like that for nearly a whole minute, watching as the bus drove away. The blunt honesty and unabashed manner with which kids often spoke always surprised her.

When she came back to, she just shook her head a playful smirk forming as she turned away from the bus stop to head to the diner for some breakfast.

Her son was a smart kid, for better or worse. Could he really tell from just that short interaction the night prior that there may be something between Gold and her? Or was it something he had noticed a long time ago?

Whatever the case, it made her oddly happy that Henry didn't seem to mind that Gold "liked" her as he had put it, which was putting it rather simply she thought. Having Henry's approval of Gold somehow meant so much more to her than if Mary Margaret or David approved. It also pleased her that Henry was able to see, just like she did, that there's was more to Gold than met the eye and that he wasn't really as scary and intimidating as he sometimes tried to portray.

When Emma entered the diner, she headed to the far end of the bar. That was her favorite place to sit when she was alone. As she sat down, Ruby came out from the kitchen and flashed her a big grin when she saw her.

"Hey there, Emma. What can I get for you?"

"Oh, just a coffee for now," she said, smiling back at Ruby. "Shit!" she suddenly whisper shouted, jumping from her seat.

Ruby almost dropped the pot of coffee she was holding, Emma's sudden outburst startling her.

"What the hell?" Ruby asked, giving Emma a look that clearly stated she thought Emma had lost her marbles. The fact that Emma was now crouching down and heading behind the bar only confirmed that in Ruby's eyes.

"Shhh!" Emma hushed her.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm hiding."

"Obviously. From what?" Ruby asked looking down at Emma.

"Later! I'll tell you later. Just—Just don't look at me. Pretend I'm not here."

Ruby obeyed, though still looked very confused. She looked back up from the ground just as Mr. Gold approached the bar.

"Hello, Mr. Gold. What can I get for you?" Ruby asked politely.

"Just a coffee and one of those fabulous banana nut muffins will do, dearie."

"You got, it, I'll be right back," and she turned to grab a cup for him.

"Could I get it to-go, please? I've got to get my shop opened up."

"Yeah, absolutely. One second." Then she went about getting a to-go mug and grabbing the muffin for him and putting it in a doggy bag.

"Here, you go," Ruby said, flashing him a winning, albeit somewhat forced, smile.

"Thank you, dearie," he said as he put a few bills down on the counter. "Keep the change." And then he headed back out of the diner.

From the ground Emma mouthed up at Ruby "Is he gone?"

"Yeah, he's gone. Now are you going to tell me why the hell you're hiding on the ground from him? I mean, I know Gold's a bit of a character and definitely not the most popular guy in Storybrooke but I've never known that to bother you."

Emma felt a little bit ashamed, and rather silly for acting the way she had but she panicked when she saw him coming towards the diner. She hadn't come to a final decision about what to say to Gold and her plan was to avoid him until she did. If she just ran into him somewhere there was no telling what stupid shit she might blurt out. It had to all be planned and thought out or else she'd come of sounding like a blundering idiot.

"Uh, that depends, how much time do you have?" Emma asked sheepishly.

Ruby raised her brows at Emma as she stood back up. "I'll make time. Here come to the backroom with me," Ruby said, grabbing Emma's arm and pulling her.

Once in the backroom, Ruby closed the door behind them and locked it so they could have some privacy. "Seriously? What the hell is going on? Why are you avoiding Gold? Did you make some deal with him and now you're trying to back out?"

"No, nothing like that," Emma answered.

"Then what? 'Cause I am really confused. I've seen you go head to head with Gold several times, you can hold your own against him. You're the first person I've seen go anywhere near Gold more than once on your own free will, at least until the curse broke I guess."

"If you only knew how willingly I'd gone anywhere near Gold," Emma blurted out, then she quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ruby asked, not quite understanding what Emma meant, though she did have an idea. She figured she must be wrong—No way did that mean what she was thinking.

"I've been sleeping with Gold." Emma blurted again. It seemed she couldn't help herself. She had to talk to someone and Ruby was her friend, she could trust her. Emma could trust Mary Margaret too, but this wasn't exactly the kind of conversation mothers and daughters should have.

"Nuh uh! Really?!" Ruby asked sounding impressed rather than repulsed, for which Emma was grateful.

"Really," Emma replied.

"Impressive," Ruby commented. "I just mean…well he's pretty good looking for an older guy, Ruby added at the confused look Emma had given her. And he's sort of an enigma around here; I never would've thought that he'd let anyone get _that_ close. He's kinda closed off and stuff from people, you know?"

"Well we aren't exactly _close _per se."

"What do you mean you're not exactly close? You're dating him"

"Well that's just it, we aren't really dating…We've just been sleeping together Emma replied.

"Oh," said Ruby with a knowing tone and a suggestive smirk.

"Yeah."

"Is that weird? You know, with him being Neal's dad?" Ruby asked tentatively, not wanting to offend Emma.

"I try not to think about it that much. Too be honest it's not really that hard to forget once things get going…if you know what I mean," she said candidly.

Ruby gave a soft chuckle. "Yeah? So…" Ruby glanced around cautiously as though what she was about to say was extremely scandalous and she didn't want anyone else to hear, "who's better?" she whispered.

Emma raised a brow suggestively, and that was all the answer Ruby needed.

"I knew it! There _is _a lot to be said for experience," said Ruby with a wink, and a huge grin.

"I can't believe I just told you that."

"Hey, it's all good, we're friends I'm not going to judge you for that. A woman has needs, no shame in that."

Emma just smiled back at her. "Thanks. I talked to Mary Margaret about it a little but this stuff," she gestured between herself and Ruby "isn't the kind of thing mothers and daughters talk about…at least I don't think so, I guess I can't really be too sure."

"Well I am your girl for all that talk. I've always thought the mark of true friendship was being able to talk openly about your sex like," she joked.

"Yeah, it feels refreshing to get that off my chest. Besides, I feel like it's almost a crime for me to be the only one who has knowledge of how good Gold is in bed," Emma joked back. It was much easier and lighter conversation now that she'd put it all out on the table.

"It was definitely something I'd wondered about, but don't worry, he's not my type, I've never been _that _curious. But still, good to know I suppose—But that doesn't explain why you're hiding from him, in fact, it only confuses me more."

"Well the thing is, it was kind of a secret…until last night. We had gone back to my place and well, we ended up in the shower." Ruby's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Gold had dropped his cane in the kitchen and Mary Margaret and David got home early and saw it there and the jig was up," Emma continued. "Anyway he stayed for dinner, which was awkward as fuck, if you ask me and then I drove him back to his car…" Emma trailed off.

"And then what happened?" Ruby encouraged Emma to continue.

"He said…well, he said he was glad that the secret was out now, then kissed me and left. I don't know what to think of it. I think he means he wants a relationship but I don't know, we've never really talked about it, we always just got straight to the fun stuff."

"Well relationships can be fun."

"I guess," Emma said, not really convinced.

"Do _you_ want a relationship with him?"

"I don't know, maybe—I think I might."

"You should talk to him then, figure out what you both want," advised Ruby.

"Ugh I know, that's what Mary Margaret said and I will…eventually. I just don't know what to say. I've never been good at this talking bullshit. I've had one other serious relationship in my life…with his son," She gave an almighty sigh. "It's just so fricken complicated, honestly, like what the hell, why can't this shit ever be easy. And as far as me hiding from him, I haven't figured out what I want or how to say what I want yet and I've decided to avoid him until I do."

Ruby just laughed, shaking her head. "Emma you need to get your shit together, girl," she said playfully.

"I know," she sighed again. "I'll let you get back to work for now though. I've got to get to the station. If it's slow I'll use that time to figure shit out."

"Ok, sounds good, Granny's probably got her panties in a bunch wondering where I went. And don't forget if you need to talk, want some advice, or what to share some juicy details, I'm all ears."

"Thanks, Ruby, that means a lot," Emma said, reaching out to hug her friend.

"Any time."

The two headed back out of the backroom, Ruby returning to her post behind the bar.

Emma got her coffee and a muffin to-go and headed to the station, fully prepared to spend the rest of the day making up her mind about Gold, and gathering the courage to go talk to him. What she wasn't prepared for was for Gold's shiny Cadillac to be parked out in front of the station.

_Shit_, Emma thought, for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past 24 hours.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I don't know if any of you people reading this get at all excited when I post a new chapter for this, but it's probably weird that I get excited about writing one. I get excited wondering where my story is going to go next, 'cause I'm really just making this shit up as I go. Ideas come to my mind and I write them down and apparently I had a lot of thoughts that just couldn't wait to be written down and I was feeling rather generous and decided to post it right away. So, lucky for anyone who eagerly awaits a new chapter because here comes another one less than 24 hours after the last one. Don't get used to it though, it's not likely to happen again, but we'll see I guess ;) anyway, my rambling is done. Read, review if you'd like, but most importantly, enjoy!

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Emma halted in her tracks at the sight of Mr. Golds car. For a second, she almost decided to turn right back around and not even go into the station yet; but she knew she couldn't. She had to talk to him and apparently it had to happen now.

It was almost a relief, really, that he had just shown up at the station to wait for her, that way she had to talk. If it were left up to her she would've waited days, maybe even weeks before she got up the nerve. Emma took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and entered the station.

When she made it into her office, Gold was seated in her in the chair across from her desk. He stood when she entered. Gold was wearing a suit, like he always did. It was black with a blood red shirt underneath and a bright white tie, the contrasting darkness of the colors doing wonderful things for the man's appearance. If it had been under different circumstances, Emma would have jumped him in a heartbeat, but she had business to attend to.

"Ms. Swan," he greeted with a smile that would've made some women swoon; Emma wasn't really the swooning type though. "You look lovely this morning."

Emma scoffed; she hadn't even bothered to do her hair that morning. His eyes conveyed that he meant it though and it made Emma's stomach turn in a good way.

"Thanks," she replied shyly. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I was hoping you might be able to help me solve a little mystery of sorts."

"Oh? And what's that exactly."

"Well, you see, there's this woman I've been seeing...recreationally you might say," he paused, smirking lightly at her before continuing.

"That is mysterious," Emma joked, surprised at how easy it was to fall back into their routine of witty banter. He just had this way of making her comfortable in his presence like nobody else could. She began to think that having a talk with him wouldn't really be so bad.

Gold snickered lightly, smiling at her again. "You and your sense of humor. No, the mystery is that when I went to the diner this morning," he smirked as Emma paled, having a feeling of where he was heading with the conversation. "She was there and when she caught sight of me she jumped up and hid behind the counter until I'd left. I was curious as to why that might be and thought you might have some insight to offer."

"You just...You caught me off guard, that's all."

He just eyed her questioningly.

"I don't know, I just panicked. You said something last night that got me thinking, and that is _never_ a good thing, all right. And I thought and thought and still couldn't decide what I thought you meant by it and I planned on coming to see you today…or sometime soonish or whatever to ask and to talk about it but I hadn't figured out what to say yet when you came to the diner and I panicked and hid under the counter like a five year old because...because I don't know, I'm an idiot," she rambled it all off like it was one long sentence, hardly taking a breath as she spoke.

"Why did you panic?" He asked earnestly, his expression very soft.

"Because what you said and what it could mean scared me a little. I'm not used to being scared, okay. It doesn't happen very often and when it does I just never know how to handle it."

"What are you talking about? What did I say? What do you think I meant?"

"You said you were glad that it, this," she gestured between herself and him, "thing we have going isn't a secret anymore. And I thought that maybe you meant that you were glad so we didn't have to hide anymore and could have an actual relationship."

"And that scared you?"

"Yeah!" she nearly shouted.

Gold walked up to her slowly, reaching out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. "Why?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know. Gold felt bad that he had scared her, that hadn't been his intention. It had just been what he was honestly feeling at that moment so he'd said it.

"Because I'm no good at relationship shit. I never have been. And I didn't know if that's actually what you meant. Maybe you were glad it wasn't a secret so we didn't have to continue anymore. Maybe you wanted it all to end but didn't want to be the one to do it. And it scared me because I wanted it to be the former and that's the first time I've wanted that in a long time and I didn't know how to handle it. And I was scared that you meant the latter and just the thought alone broke my heart a little and nobody's ever been able to make me feel all that with one goddamn sentence," she rambled on again, pacing back and forth.

Gold reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her pacing. "Well, dearie, had I known my little comment was going to cause such a fuss, I would've been a bit more clear," and with his free hand he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to him, kissing her gently yet passionately. He pulled back to look her in the eye, "and here I thought you were so clever. It was what I liked most about you…well apart from certain physical attributes," he said as his hand dropped down to rest on her ass and he gave it a firm yet playful squeeze.

"Now I feel the need to be exceptionally clear here lest you misunderstand me again; there is nothing I would like more than to be able to take you out on a proper date, treat you like ought to be treated…And then take you back to my place and treat you in even better way, but ways that might be frowned upon in public," said Gold, raising his brow suggestively.

"Shut up," she replied and then she punched him playfully in the chest.

He rubbed at the spot, feigning hurt. Without warning, Emma seized Gold's tie and pulled him to her and kissed him. Gold responded vigorously, his tongue prodding at her lips demanding entrance, to which she graciously complied.

Their kissing quickly went from sweetly to hungrily as Gold grabbed Emma's ponytail and tugged on it, exposing her neck. He then kissed and licked at the hollow of her neck and surprised her by biting her there _hard_, leaving a mark.

It was something he'd wanted to do since long before their tryst had started but something he always avoided in an attempt to keep their secret. Now that it was out, however, he relished in the fact that she'd be walking around town with clear evidence of what he'd done. Relished in the fact that people would know that he alone was the man fortunate enough to have made that mark on the fiercely beautiful Emma Swan; that he alone had broken down her walls and made her get lost in passion.

Emma made a noise that started out as a gasp of surprise and ended as a sigh of pleasure. She backed up slowly, pulling Gold along with her until she back up into her desk. She hopped up onto it, spread her legs and pulled Gold between them, wrapping her legs around his to keep him in place, all the while still kissing him.

Lustfully, she slid her hands from his waist to his chest, fumbling with the buttons there, wanting desperately to feel the surprisingly soft skin that lay beneath that thin layer of cotton. When her hands finally found their way to his bare skin, Gold froze at the feel of it. He swore with every fiber of his being that the feel of her delicate hands on his skin was far superior to anything he had felt before or was likely to ever feel again.

His head titled back of it's own accord as she pressed her lips to his exposed chest. She made a trail of light, feathery kisses from his chest up to his neck and ending at his jaw line just below his ear before she pulled his head back down so she could kiss him on the lips once more.

"Have the two of you considered, I don't know, maybe putting a sock on the door or something," came Mary Margaret's voice from the door of Emma's office.

Emma jumped up from her desk, succeeding only in making the space between herself and Gold even smaller. A muttered, "damn it" escaped her lips as she lightly pushed Gold away from her and tugged at the hem of her shirt to straighten it. Gold stepped back and turned to face Mary Margaret as he shamelessly went about buttoning his shirt back up and fixing his tie.

"Ms. Blanchard, lovely to see you. Impeccable timing as always," Gold remarked.

"Mhm," Mary Margaret murmured, giving him a quick once over then shifting her gaze to Emma.

"You're doing this on purpose aren't you?" Emma insinuated.

"Hey," Mary Margaret stated, holding her hands up in surrender, "I've walked into places I'm at total liberty to walk into; first my own apartment, and second a public place. I pay my taxes I can walk into the police station any time I want. It's been enlightening to see what it is exactly that my taxes are paying for," she retorted, casting a sidelong glance back at Mr. Gold.

"Mhm, so then why exactly are you here?"

"It's my free period at the school so I stopped by the diner and Ruby may have mentioned something about you having a rough morning so I thought I'd stop in and check on you. It seems, however, that your day has markedly improved since then."

"As a matter of fact it has," Emma said, turning her head to smile at Gold beside her. "So, is there anything else?"

"I thought we could maybe talk," she said glancing over at Gold. Gold was a quick man and he got her hint that that was a queue for him to leave.

"Well, I think I'll head back to my shop and maybe get some work done," he said placing his hand on the small of her back, leaning in to plant a chaste kiss on her lips. "I'll talk to you later."

He headed out of Emma's office, Mary Margaret stepping aside to let him pass, "Ms. Blanchard," he said nodding at her as he passed.

"Mr. Gold," she said nodding back.

After Mary Margaret could no longer hear Mr. Gold's steps accompanied by the sound of his cane hitting the floor, she turned a scrutinizing eye on Emma. Emma just walked back around her desk to sit in her chair; Mary Margaret sat in the seat Mr. Gold had vacated earlier.

"I take it you two talked then?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"And it went well?"

"Very."

"Care to elaborate?" Mary Margaret pressed, wanting a bit more than one word answers.

"Well, I just sort of went on a little tangent about what he said the other night, what I thought he meant and what I thought about it. He laughed at me for not catching on and told me he thought it had been obvious that he wanted a relationship."

"And you said that's what you wanted too?"

"Clearly."

"Good," Mary Margaret stated matter-of-factly.

"Good?" Emma questioned, surprised at her mother's short response.

"Yeah, good. I think it's good that you're entertaining the idea of a relationship again and opening up to someone and, while I never thought I'd say this, I think Gold might actually be good for you."

"You do?" Emma replied, furrowing her brow.

"Yeah, I've seen the way you two look at each other. I think he gets you, and you get him and that's important. Now, in a typical 'my daughter is dating a new guy' situation it'd be my place to tell you to take it slow, but I think we're well past that bit so I'll just say I'm happy for you, both of you."

"Thanks," Emma said sincerely.

"Well I'll let you get back to work…or better yet _start_ working, my free period's just about over and I've got to get back to the school."

"Ok, I'll see you back at home later then."

"Yup, bye," and then Mary Margaret headed out of the office and back to the school.

Emma leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on the desk in front of her. She let out a deep sigh of relief. It was only an hour or two into her day and already it had panned out far better than she had envisioned. Hopefully the rest of the day would prove to be just as pleasant.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: First off, thanks to everyone reviewed, I love reading reviews. Anyway, here's chapter 4. Gold has a talk with Neal and Mary Margaret fills David in on what's going on with Emma and Gold. Read and enjoy. Reviews would be lovely as well :)

* * *

It was around lunchtime when Mr. Gold decided to make a phone call that he really didn't want to make. It really had to be done though now that his and Emma's relationship had become just that, a relationship. He needed to talk to his son. He was beginning to feel rather selfish for not having said anything to Bae yet or even bothering to gauge if his son still harbored feelings for his ex.

Gold drummed his fingers nervously on his desk as the phone rang, his stomach dropping lower and lower with each ring.

"Hello?" Neal answered.

"Son?"

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you had plans for lunch? If you don't have plans already I was hoping you could pick us up something at Granny's. There's something I'd like to discuss with you," Gold replied, keeping the apprehension from his voice.

"Um, ok, yeah that sounds good. I'll head over right now."

"Ok, I'll see you in a few then."

"All right, bye," then there was a click and the phone went dead.

Gold shut his phone and set it back down on his desk. He was both relieved and not that Bae so readily agreed to have lunch with him. Their relationship had become about as normal as he could've hoped for given their shaky past but it still pleased him that they were getting along well…for the time being anyway.

* * *

Neal stepped into the diner just a few minutes after hanging up with his father, given that he was staying at the inn just upstairs. He was perusing a menu when Emma walked in.

"Hey Emma," he called out to her.

"Huh," she said looking around for the source of the voice. "Oh, uh, hi, Neal."

"How's it goin'?"

"No complaints I suppose. Just grabbing a bite to eat before heading back to the station."

"Busy today?" He asked.

"Um, no, not particularly. What's going on with you?"

"Settling in nice, I guess. Got a job at the hardware store," he said.

"Oh, really? That's good, right?"

"Yeah, keeps me busy. Have the day off today though."

"Oh, so what brings you here then?" Emma asked him before turning to place her order with Ruby, who kept smirking at her.

"Uh just grabbing lunch for me and my dad. Apparently he's got something to talk to me about."

Emma blanched considerably at his words. "Is that so? Any idea what it could be about?" She asked hoping she didn't sound overly interested in his answer.

"Not a clue, but we'll see. Gotta run," he said as Ruby handed him a bag with his and Gold's order and he headed out of the diner.

"Gold's got something to talk to him about?" Ruby questioned Emma.

"Apparently," she said raising her brows. "And could you maybe refrain from smirking like that every time I come in here for crying out loud."

Ruby just laughed, her lips spreading into a wide grin. "Sorry. It's just; your mom came in here after she stopped by the station to talk to you. I asked her to let me know how you were doing. From what she said, you were doing just fine," she said winking at Emma.

"You see, this is why I tried keeping it a secret," Emma joked.

"Eh," said Ruby with a shrug. "Let me go check if your order is done yet."

"I'll be here."

A few minutes later her order was up and she took it back to the station with her. As she ate she was worrying about what Gold was talking to Neal about. She was about 1000% sure Gold was telling Neal about their newfound relationship and she was not happy about it.

It was just _weird_ every time she thought about Neal being Gold's son. The whole thing wasn't the weirdest thing in the world by any means but it was weird enough for her. Though the fact that Emma had been attracted to Gold long before she found out who his son was made her feel a little bit better. And it had been so long since she had been with Neal, but it was still weird. Emma hoped it wouldn't always feel this weird. She didn't get her hopes up though.

Then again, at the same time she was sort of glad that Gold was telling Neal. It meant he was serious about the relationship and expected it to last. If he didn't he wouldn't bother telling Neal at all probably. She just hoped it went well because if Neal had a problem with it…well, she didn't know what she would do, or what Gold would do about it for that matter. For now, she decided she'd cross her fingers and hope for the best.

* * *

"Mary Margaret!" David said as Mary Margaret walked into the pet shelter. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd surprise you and bring you lunch," she said holding up a bag of take out.

"Oh, great. I'm starving. Let's go to the tables outside and eat, it's nice out."

"Okay," she replied, heading right back out the door she'd come in through.

"Down here," David said pointing and taking Mary Margaret's free hand in his own and walking towards the picnic tables. "So how's school gone so far?"

"Great, great," she answered in a distracted manner as she set the food out on the table. "How've things been here?"

"Not bad. Earlier this morning me and the other guys had…." David stopped when he realized that Mary Margaret wasn't paying attention at all. "Mary Margaret?" He asked in an attempt to get her attention.

"Huh?"

"Are you even listening?"

"Oh I'm sorry, babe, no I'm not really. I've got to talk to you about something, about Emma."

"Ok…"

"Well I talked to her last night after you and Henry went to bad about her and Gold."

"And?" David probed.

"We talked about, you know, where exactly their 'relationship' for lack of a better word was heading and whatnot. Last night, she hadn't quite decided but then I went and saw her again during my free period this morning."

"Will you just get to the point, you're starting to ramble a bit."

"Right. Um, well she has come to a decision now and well, her and Gold are dating," she said, wincing slightly, waiting to see what David's reaction would be.

He sighed. "I think I can work with that."

"You do?"

"Yeah," he said shrugging. "She could do worse. He's not really a bad guy and I could tell from last night that he genuinely cares about her. I guess that's all that matters, really."

"Good, yeah, that's what I thought. I was kind of worried you'd be mad. You weren't exactly friendly to him last night," she said giving him a stern look.

"Well, yeah, that's what dad's do; they make their daughter's boyfriends feel uncomfortable," he joked.

"Maybe when they're fifteen David, but she's nearly thirty now."

"Yeah, I know. I'll cool it with the protective dad stuff, I guess."

"Yeah, maybe just a bit," she joked.

* * *

"Hey, I'm here!" Neal announced when he entered Gold's shop.

"Come on back here," Gold called from the back.

Neal made his way to the back looking around at all the antiques and such lining the shelves of the shop. He'd never really had the time to take a good look around and see all the trinkets his father possessed. As he walked by this time, however, he did notice the ball he used to have back in the Enchanted Forest, he smiled as he passed it.

"Hey, you didn't tell me what you wanted but that girl at the diner, Ruby I think, said she knew what you'd like."

"Yes, I go to the diner a lot, she knows my usual order."

"Ok," Neal said setting the bag of food down on the desk in front of Gold and pulling up a chair to sit across from him at the desk. "So, what exactly was this thing you had to discuss with me?"

"Oh, getting right to it then are you?" Gold asked, laughing nervously. "I've been seeing someone in town…romantically…well kind of anyway, but we are officially dating now. We'd been seeing each other in secret and uh, well, now we're not…meaning we're not seeing each other in secret anymore."

Neal furrowed his brow at his father, he couldn't remember ever hearing his father ramble so nervously before. "Um, ok…That's the thing we had to talk about?"

"No, n-not quite. You see, I more wanted to talk about the 'who' versus the 'what'."

"I'm not sure I get it," Neal replied.

"The woman I'm seeing is uh…it's um…she's…."

"Dad! Out with it all ready."

"It's Emma."

"Emma?"

"Yes."

"Emma Swan?"

"Do we know any other Emma's?"

"Emma, my ex, the mother of my child?"

"Yes!"

"You're dating Emma?"

"For crying out loud, yes!" He shouted. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. Look, if it bothers you or if you want me to not see her, I'll stop. I don't want to upset you or lose you again. If you still have feelings for her, I understand and I won't see her anymore."

"How long has this been going on and you didn't tell me?" Neal asked, ignoring his father's speech.

"Around a month now. It wasn't exactly a relationship before but uh, after today it uh, it is."

"What do you mean it wasn't exactly a relationship? What does that mean?"

Gold sighed; he was hoping he wouldn't have to go into it all. "We were just, well um, you know…" he trailed off.

"Oh," Neal said in recognition.

"Yeah. But I mean it, if you're not ok with that, if it bothers you I won't see her anymore; I'll end it."

"No, you don't have to do that. What Emma and I had was a long time ago, it's over. We're both over it now. I promise you I don't have feelings for Emma anymore."

"So, you don't mind if I date her?"

"No. Honestly. I don't mind at all," Neal assured.

"What do you think of it though, Emma and I?" Gold asked shyly.

"Um, geez uh I don't know. She can definitely keep up with your uh…wit, I guess is the word I'm looking for."

"That uh, is definitely true. She certainly can, like no one else."

"You know, I actually think that, you two might actually work," Neal said.

"Really? You do?"

"Yeah I think so. You do have a bit in common really and now that you say it, I've noticed the way you look at each other. I haven't really seen you interact a lot, but when you've seen each other in public, you know."

"It means a lot to me to hear you say that, son," Gold replied, eyes just a bit watery with emotion.

"No, I mean, I'm happy for you. I think the two of you will be good for each other actually. Just do me a favor, don't break her heart. One man in this family breaking her heart is enough. Don't follow in my foot steps, ok?" Neal demanded.

"I certainly don't intend to," he replied earnestly. "I uh, I really care for her."

Neal could see in his father's eyes that he meant it. He'd never seen that look in his eyes when talking about Belle and he'd thought his dad really cared for Belle too. Neal figured his father must really mean it. There was so much emotion in his eyes as he spoke. It looked like he was really serious about this that he really wanted things with Emma to work.

"Good. I think Emma could use someone who really cares for her. So yeah, you have my blessing. Don't worry about it. I'm happy for you. But listen, I've got to get going," he said glancing at his watch, "I have somewhere to be actually."

"Oh, ok, well thanks for coming and for your blessing. It truly means a lot to me."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll talk to you later." Neal replied as he got up from his chair.

When Gold heard the front door of his shop close, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He had been absolutely terrified that Bae would still have feelings for Emma and would be mad at him. It was such a relief that Bae didn't mind and was actually happy for him and thought the relationship could work.

Gold really did care for Emma. He never would've thought he'd feel like he did about anyone after having been with Belle. He had believed he'd found true love with Belle and when it hadn't worked out he had been devastated.

Then he'd started seeing more of Emma, going to her for help as she would come to him for help and things had just progressed from there. He started noticing little things about her, how adorable she looked when she smirked at him, how beautiful the unique green color her eyes were, how she always seemed to smell like cinnamon and especially how sexy she looked when she was angry.

When he made his comment about sexual tension, he had meant it. There was something between them and they both knew it. Emma had only offered him sex, too scared to let him in past her walls, only using him to fill her needs but he knew the wait would be worth it.

Emma Swan was the exact type of woman who is worth waiting for, the kind of woman that will stick around if someone shows they'll do the same for her. Gold was fairly certain he'd proved that to her and intended to continue to prove it to her for as long as she would let him. For now though, he'd start with simply inviting her over for dinner that evening.

* * *

A/N: I know that in the show Neal calls Gold Papa not Dad but it sounded really weird and unnatural when MRJ said it in the show and it felt really unnatural writing it too so I went with dad instead because I liked it better, so yeah...Also the "creative" juices were really flowing today and I actually have already written chapter 5 as well but I'm gonna hold of for another day or two before posting it...


	5. Chapter 5

Gold has a little chat with Henry then asks Emma over for dinner. Hope you all enjoy it. Reviews would be appreciated but are definitely not required :)

* * *

A little after three that afternoon, Gold decided he would close down the shop a little early. He wanted to ask Emma in person over for dinner that evening. It seemed too impersonal for his tastes to simply call her up and ask, and it wasn't as if the station was very far away, he could easily take a walk over there. He also wanted to go the store and pick up something to make for dinner.

Mr. Gold was a fantastic cook and he'd wanted to cook a meal for Emma for quite some time. It had never worked out though; he would've suggested it after one of their many get-togethers but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable or try to push her into a relationship. He knew that if Emma had gotten the sense that Gold wanted a relationship before she herself wanted one, she would've freaked out and ended the whole thing and he definitely hadn't wanted that.

As he made his way down the street to the station there was a lot of noise. Apparently school had just let out so there was a buzz of activity as kids rushed off the school bus and made their way to waiting parents or walked the rest of the way home. Mr. Gold couldn't help but get a small smile on his face; he'd always had a soft spot for children.

"Mr. Gold!" a child's voice shouted to him from up ahead.

"Ah, Henry. How are you?"

"Good, just got out of school for the day," he replied excitedly.

"Well that's great, where are you headed now?" Mr. Gold asked.

"On my way to the station to see my mom. I like to hangout with her at the station for a little while after school gets out. Plus I'm spending the next few days at my other mom's house so I won't get to see her as much for a while."

"Oh, ok. How are things now with you and Regina?"

"Much better! Now that there's not as much crazy stuff going on around town it's been a lot better. She's been really happy lately too. I don't know exactly why but I like it."

"That's wonderful, Henry. I'm glad to hear that. As complicated as my relationship with Regina in the past has been she truly is a wonderful mother and she cares about you a lot. I'm glad things are going well," he said sincerely.

"Yeah it's really nice. I'm glad everyone in the family is getting along well now."

"Yes, it is nice."

"So where are you going, Mr. Gold?" Henry asked as he walked alongside Mr. Gold.

"As it happens, I too was on my way to see your mother at the station," he answered.

"You do like her don't you?" Henry asked as though he'd simply asked what the weather was like.

"I…uh…what?" Gold stammered.

"I may only be eleven but I can tell that you like her," Henry explained. "Don't worry, I don't mind," he added when he noticed Gold's expression. His expression was an odd mix of surprise, confusion and just a hint of pride; after all, Henry was his grandson. He was proud of how perceptive he was. "I think she likes you too by the way. I could tell when you were over last night."

Gold just smiled down at Henry. He knew there was a reason he'd always liked Henry. "As a matter of fact, Henry, I do like your mother. I like Emma very much."

"I knew it!" He replied excitedly as they reached the station. Mr. Gold held the door open for Henry then followed him in.

"Mom!" Henry shouted and ran the rest of the way to Emma's office, leaving Gold to walk the rest of the way by himself.

She stood up when he walked in. "Hey, kid," she said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

"I was right about what I said this morning," he announced.

"What, right about what?"

"That Mr. Gold likes you. He told me so."

"He did, did he? And when did he tell you that?" She asked.

"On our way over here," Henry replied as he went to go sit in the chair across from her desk.

"Our?"

"Our," Mr. Gold answered, stepping into her office. "Henry came up to me on my way over here and we walked together. We had a nice little chat," he said winking at Henry, who smiled back at him.

Emma looked back and forth between Gold and Henry suspiciously. "You did? And what exactly did you two talk about?"

"You," Henry replied nonchalantly. Gold chuckled and Emma frowned playfully at the two of them.

"Lovely," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Well I know what he's doing here," she said pointing at Henry, "but why are you here?" She asked Gold as she sat on her desk facing him.

"I uh, I wanted to ask you something," Gold began.

"Ok," Emma waved her hand for him to continue. She could tell by his hesitation that he was uncomfortable asking whatever it was he wanted to ask in front of Henry and she was thoroughly enjoying it. He'd made her feel uncomfortable after getting caught the other night so she was going to enjoy his temporary agony. "Go on, ask," he prodded when he didn't say anything.

"I was wondering if uh…maybe you would like to join me at my house for dinner tonight, around seven?" He asked tentatively and slightly embarrassedly as Henry watched him talk like he was watching an exciting sports match or something.

Emma smiled sweetly back at him. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'd really like that."

"Great, that's great. Then I will see you tonight. Uh…bye," he said awkwardly. He wanted to kiss her goodbye but felt weird doing it in front of Henry for some reason. "Goodbye, Henry," he said as he turned to walk out of Emma's office.

"Bye!" Henry said, waving.

Emma watched as Gold walked away and then looked over and smirked at Henry.

"Hey, I'll be right back, ok, kid?"

"Yup!"

Emma headed out of her office, catching up to Gold in the hallway.

"Hey!" She called out to him. He turned around to see what she wanted.

"Was that embarrassing for you, asking me on a date in front of my kid?" she asked teasingly giving him a cute smile.

"No…of course not," Gold said, though Emma could see right through him.

"Uh huh," she said smirking. "You were embarrassed, admit it. I saw your cheeks get all red."

"And you were enjoying it weren't you?" He asked, glaring at her.

"Yeah, that's right, I was. It's about time you were the one feeling uncomfortable. I had to sit there while you joked with my mother about our sex life. So sue me for enjoying your obvious discomfort at asking me out on a date like we're silly teenagers or something. Also I particularly enjoyed the part where I could tell you wanted to kiss me and instead you awkwardly shifted around and just walked out instead," she chuckled.

"Very funny, Emma. I'm glad you're getting such a kick out of this."

"Oh yeah, I am. I am thoroughly enjoying this and this isn't even half as bad as what you put me through. Oh, and you're not getting away with it by the way," she said sauntering right up to him, getting real close.

"Getting away with what?" He asked looking down at her.

"Not kissing me," she replied and reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him. He kissed her back softly. The kiss was short and sweet. When Emma pulled out of it she said, "Oh, I meant to ask what you talked to Neal about."

"How do you know I talked to him?"

"I saw him in the diner around lunch time. He said you told him you had to talk to him about something."

"Come now, Emma, you know what I talked to him about," he replied.

"Ok, yes, obviously. I want to know how it went."

"If it had gone bad, this entire interaction here would've gone completely differently and wouldn't have been at all pleasant for either of us."

"Huh, good point," she conceded. "Well I'm going to go back and hangout with Henry for a bit before I have to drop him off at Regina's."

"Ok, I've got to get going anyway. I have some things to get together for tonight."

"You do?" Emma questioned.

"Yes, of course. I have to buy some food and then of course I have to cook it so it'll be ready when you get there."

"You're cooking me dinner?"

"Um, yes, that's why I invited you for dinner. What did you think we were going to do, filter feed?" He answered sarcastically.

"Well no, obviously. I don't know, I didn't know you could cook."

"There's probably a lot you don't know about me Ms. Swan," he replied, smiling at her.

"Is this going to be some romantic dinner or something, should I like dress up or something?" She asked shyly.

"You can dress however you'd like, dearie. You'll look beautiful in anything. I'm just making dinner; it's not that big of a deal. I want you to be comfortable, wear whatever you'd like. But I've really got to get going so I can figure out what to make. Any suggestions?" He asked.

"Oh, um, no, I'm not really that fussy. I'll eat just about anything. Surprise me."

"Will do. Goodbye. I will see you tonight." And then he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss goodbye.

"Yeah, see you tonight."

Then Emma turned around and headed back to her office.

"Hey, kid, what do you think about taking a break and going to get some ice cream or cocoa or whatever you want? Huh?"

"Yes! Please, can we go get some ice cream?! It's been forever since I had ice cream!"

"Henry, we all went for ice cream like two days ago," she replied laughing.

"My point exactly," he said simply. "Let's go."

* * *

"Mary Margaret, are you home?" Emma called out as she walked into the apartment.

"Yeah, right here," she answered, coming out of the bathroom. "Did you already drop Henry off at Regina's?"

"Yeah, just got back from there."

"Ok, good. Hey, what do you want for dinner?" Mary Margaret asked as she rushed around the kitchen opening up drawers and peeking in the fridge looking for dinner ideas.

"Oh, um, actually I'm eating dinner at Gold's house tonight. He stopped by the station earlier to ask me over."

Mary Margaret stopped moving around and peeked around the door of the open fridge to look at Emma. "Really?"

"Uh, yeah," Emma answered shyly.

"Oh, ok…great, that's great," then she went back to searching through the fridge.

"You don't mind do you?" Emma asked.

"No of course I don't mind. I think that's a great idea. Are you excited for it?"

"Excited? No, it's not like it's Disney World or something, Mary Margaret. I'm looking forward to it, yeah; I think it'll be nice. He's cooking dinner and stuff, I don't know, I think it'll be a nice night."

"Well that's good," she replied.

"Yeah, so, anyway, I'm going to go take another shower and get ready before I head over to Gold's."

"Ok."

After Emma got upstairs, David walked into the apartment.

"Hey, hon'," David greeted Mary Margaret, going up to her and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Hey, it's just going to be us two for dinner tonight," she stated.

"Oh, what about Emma?" He asked.

"She's having dinner over with Mr. Gold tonight."

"Oh, ok. Well that's nice. We can have a little date night dinner since we got rained out yesterday," he said, making his way to the fridge to grab a beer.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. It's actually been quite a while since we've had some alone time," she said a tad bit suggestively.

David stopped right in the middle of a big swig of beer, his cheeks puffed out from the liquid inside. He gulped it all down and looked at her, one brow raised. "Alone time, huh?"

"Yeah, alone time. Here we've been trying to be one big family and stuff and Emma's off getting some, it's our turn now," she joked.

"Hey, you're not gonna get any arguments from me on that one," David replied, holding up his hands.

"But for now, how about you just help me make dinner?"

"I'd love to," David said, standing back up and going into the kitchen to help Mary Margaret.

When Emma came down, she was wearing a dark red blouse with a pair of tight black jeans and a brown belt. She had curled her hair like she usually did; she liked it best that way. Then she donned her blue leather jacket; as much as others said they liked the red one best, she preferred the blue one. Besides, that one went much better with a red shirt, the other one would've been too much red.

Mary Margaret and David has already finished making dinner and eating it and were already doing the dishes by the time Emma came down. It had taken her a while to figure out what to wear. She was hoping she wasn't dressed too casually but Gold had told her to wear whatever she felt comfortable in. And she was comfortable but also thought she looked good, so it was a win/win in her opinion.

"Hey, guys, I'm heading out, all right?" Emma said as she headed toward the door.

"Ok," Mary Margaret called back. "Oh, wait, one sec," she said running over to her at the door.

"What?"

"Are you going to be back tonight?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Oh, um…I'm gonna tentatively say 'that's a negative on that one'…" Emma answered, avoiding her mother's eye.

"Hmm, I suspected as much. Well then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," she said reaching out and hugging Emma goodbye.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye, David," she called out as she walked out the door.

"Bye," he hollered after her as Mary Margaret shut the door behind Emma.

"Aww, our little girl's all grown up," Mary Margaret joked, turning around and walking back over to David to help finish doing the dishes.

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that chapter even though it was really just a filler before the good part next chapter which will be their dinner. I've started writing it now, so it should be done pretty soon. This story is turning out to be much longer than I had originally planned but there will be a clear ending that I already have planned...it'll be a happy one though :) but it's still a few chapters away at least.


	6. Chapter 6

DATE NIGHT IS FINALLY HERE! Enjoy.

* * *

As Emma drove to Mr. Gold's house she was gripping her steering wheel much harder than was strictly necessary. She didn't even know why she was feeling so nervous. It was just dinner. And yet, she couldn't help but feel a little jittery. She was confident that as soon as she actually arrived, being in his presence would actually calm her down. That always seemed to happen.

She pulled into his driveway just after seven o'clock. As she walked up to the front door of Mr. Gold's house, she could see that the hall light was on; the way the light shone through the stained glass window on the door created a multi-colored shadow on his front porch. When she reached the door she gave it a tentative knock.

Emma could just barely hear the thud of Mr. Gold's footsteps and the clack of his cane on the ground before the door swung open to admit her.

"Holy shit!" She blurted when she saw him. He smiled triumphantly at her as though he'd just won some sort of bet.

"Lovely to see you too, Ms. Swan. You look beautiful by the way, just as I said you would."

But Emma wasn't really listening to him. She was staring at him with a look somewhat akin to wonder.

"You're not wearing a suit! I've never seen you without a suit…well other than being naked, but that doesn't count."

"Well, Ms. Swan, no one can argue against your keen powers of observation," he quipped.

"Yeah, well can you blame me for being surprised? You've only ever worn suits, ever. I was actually under the impression you came out of the womb wearing a suit. I don't think anyone's ever seen you in anything but a suit…in this world anyway," she explained.

"No you're right, no one has, but you're special," he said stepping aside and motioning for her to come inside. "Do you like it?" He asked almost timidly.

"Mmhmm, definitely. I'm having a real dilemma here trying to decide what I like better, you in a finely tailored suit, or this look here," she stated looking him up and down and taking her time as she did it.

Gold was wearing a plain black pair of shoes, same as he always did, but the rest of his ensemble was different. Instead of a suit he was wearing a dark blue pair of jeans. They looked worn and old but in the kind of way that it looked like it was on purpose, that that was the style the makers had intended for. He had on a thick dark brown belt. His shirt was simple, just a plain white button down that he had tucked in but it looked very good on him. The top two buttons were undone, exposing a tiny bit of his chest to Emma's eyes and the sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbows.

"I do know one thing though," she stated.

"Oh, give yourself some credit, dearie, I'm sure you know more than _one _thing," he joked.

"Cute," she said smirking. "That's not what I meant. What I was going to say was that I know I'm digging those undone buttons there," she said pointing at his exposed chest, one brow raised suggestively.

"Oh, well if it's distracting you, I can button them back up," he replied, raising his arms to do up the buttons.

"No, no," she said walking up to him and taking his hands in hers, halting them in their attempts to button his shirt back up. "Keep 'em just like they are."

Then she let go of his hands so she could wrap her own around his neck to kiss him. His hands dropped down to rest on her waist.

"So," Emma began, ending the kiss. "What did you make for dinner?"

"I made lamb and rice."

"Ooh, yum. I love lamb."

"Excellent then let me grab your jacket really quick and then we can sit down and eat."

"Ok, yeah, sounds good," she said as she went about taking off her jacket. "Here," she said handing it to him once she'd gotten it off.

He hung it on the coat rack right next to the door. Gold then turned around and placing his hand on the small of Emma's back, led her down the hall to the kitchen.

"What can I get you to drink?" Gold asked once they were in the kitchen.

"Um, what do you have?"

"I've got wine, beer and some whisky, and some non-alcoholic beverages if you'd prefer."

"Hm, I don't normally go for wine, but I'm kind of in the mood for it right now. I'll have a glass of that, please."

"No problem," he replied getting out the wine and pouring he and her a glass of it. "Have a seat," he motioned to the table as he set her glass down on it. "Now, personally I'm not a fan of it, but I did buy some mint jelly in case you wanted it with your lamb."

"No, yeah, I'd love some actually."

As Emma sat sipping her wine sporadically, Gold busied himself with placing their plates on the table and getting the mint jelly out for Emma. It all looked great to Emma. She hadn't had a whole lot of nice dinner dates like this. Most of the men she'd dated in the past were losers and she wasn't even sure she could really apply the word "dating" to those relationships.

The table had been set nice, there weren't any candles but Emma actually preferred it that way. She wasn't one for cliché cheesy gestures, though she suspected that Gold would've somehow managed to pull it off without it seeming even remotely cheesy.

And it all smelled wonderful; the seasonings in the rice and on the lamb mixed with the mint were amazing. There was another scent pervading the air as well though she couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It smelled a little bit like coffee and maybe just a hint of cinnamon. Maybe Gold had made something for dessert as well and was waiting until later to bring it out. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious.

"How did the rest of your day go?" Gold asked as he sat down at the table.

"It was good. It was slow at the station so Henry and I went to the diner for some ice cream after you left."

"You're really good with him, you know that?" Gold declared.

"Oh, I don't know about that but uh, thanks," she replied shyly.

"No, I mean it. You light up when he's around and he does the same with you. It's endearing. He's a really great kid."

"Yeah, he is pretty great isn't he?"

"Indeed. Bright for his age, too, I think."

"You know, you light up a bit when you're around him too," Emma stated.

"Do I? Well, I've always liked Henry since before you even came to town. He was always a sweet kid with a wild imagination, of course it wasn't really all that wild since his theory turned out to be true."

"Yeah, he's pretty amazing," Emma said with a smile.

"Just like his mother," Gold said, smiling sweetly at her.

She blushed a bit at his words. Getting compliments wasn't something she was used to…or at least not being able to see so clearly that the compliments were genuine. Guys would tell her whatever they thought she wanted to hear to get her into their bed. Gold was different though. He'd given her plenty of compliments without so much as a hint that he'd expected to get anything out of it, until about a month ago that is.

The rest of the dinner went by without incident; they talked and joked like they normally did. They both filled each other in on how it had gone informing their families of their newfound relationship. Emma decided to leave out the part about her telling Ruby how good Gold was in bed.

She was sure he would've been pleased by what she said but not pleased that she'd said it to someone. In her experience men didn't like it when women talked to each other about his performance, though Gold had absolutely nothing to worry about in that department. Gold was by far the best she'd ever had and she rather liked being able to brag about it.

By the time they'd finished eating dinner, they'd both had enough wine to give them a proper buzz. It made Emma feel extremely relaxed and just a tad bit lightheaded but she was enjoying herself. This was the first time her and Gold had really sat down and just talked, enjoyed each other's presence fully clothed. As much as Emma enjoyed sex with Gold, just being around him and talking to him really was enough.

"I hope you didn't fill up too much on dinner, because I made dessert," Gold announced as he started to clear away the dishes from dinner.

"I knew I smelled something else. What is it, I can't figure it out but it smells delicious," she replied.

"I made tiramisu, it's my favorite dessert. I put some cinnamon in it because I know how much you like it. Also I was going to put on a pot of coffee to go with it, or I picked up some hot cocoa in case you wanted that instead, and I have cinnamon for you to put on it if you want."

"How did you know I like cinnamon in my hot chocolate?" Emma asked.

"I've watched you come into the diner and get hot chocolate with cinnamon for months now," he explained.

"You've certainly been keeping an eye on me," she stated.

"Any man would be a fool to not keep his eye on you, dearie."

Emma blushed again. "Um, well, I'd love some tiramisu and some hot chocolate with cinnamon."

When Gold pulled the dessert out of the fridge, the smell assaulted Emma's senses immediately. Tiramisu always had a strong scent. She suspected it was the kahlua that went into it that made it smell so strong, but Emma loved the smell of it. Luckily the liqueur was cooked out in the process of making it because she already had a bit of a buzz going on and she never really enjoyed being drunk. She liked to drink sure, but being drunk was a whole different thing, really.

"Mmmm, oh my god this is good!" She exclaimed after taking the first bite. She washed it down with a bit of cinnamon topped hot cocoa. "You really are a great cook!"

"Well I'm glad you like it. I've always enjoyed cooking, though I don't really do it too often."

"How come?"

"It seems a waste to make such a good meal for just one person," he stated. "Though now, I can cook for you," he stated as he took a few bites from his own dish.

Emma blushed once more. It seemed she couldn't help herself from blushing at Gold's endearing words. From everything she had seen of Gold in the past, she never would've guessed that he was so…sweet and romantic. She'd never dated anyone who put so much effort into dating her.

"Well, you can cook for me whenever you'd like. Mary Margaret isn't a bad cook but she's nothing compared to you. And uh, really um, I don't know, I'd like to have you cook for me like this, like a date, a lot…." Emma rambled.

"I'll cook for you whenever you'd like, dearie." Mr. Gold replied with a smile. It was the smile that made women swoon, and for the first time ever, Emma actually did swoon a little bit.

Though Gold practically inhaled his dessert, Emma took her time eating hers, savoring every bite.

"Could you please just eat your dessert, because every time you lick your fork like that…well I get excited…if you know what I mean," Gold blurted out as he watched her eat.

"Oh I'm sorry, is it," she slowly licked the rest of the dessert off her fork, "distracting you?" Then she smirked at him and gave him a wink.

"Yes, it is," Gold replied glaring at her playfully. "I can barely think straight watching you do that."

"Well then maybe you could stop watching me."

"Absolutely not. That's not an option. Now that I've got you here in my house for dinner and actually get to date you, I'm not letting you out of my sight," he replied.

"You know Gold, when you're not wheeling and dealing, you can actually be quite romantic," Emma said, blushing yet again.

"I have my moments," he said simply. Then, noticing that Emma had finished her dessert, he stood up from the table and grabbed their dirty dishes and took them to the sink to clean them.

Emma came up behind him as he was cleaning the dishes. She pushed her body flush against his, her breasts pushing into his back. Her arms wrapped around his waist, hugging him tightly. She rested her head against his back.

As Gold stood in front of the sink doing the dishes, Emma's hands slithered up from his waist to his chest, effortlessly finding the buttons to his shirt which she began to undo as she leaned up to kiss him on his neck. She got through half the buttons before the sound of several dishes crashing into the sink gave her pause.

"I can't clean the dishes while you're doing that," Gold sighed exasperatedly, a hint of arousal seeping into his voice.

"Do you want me to stop?" She asked as she continued kissing his neck. He could feel her lips form a smirk against his neck.

"No," he answered, turning off the water and grabbing a towel to dry his hands. As he dried them, he turned around to face Emma, her arms still wrapped around him, though now her hands were on his back. He put his arms around her as he dried his hands; tossing the towel onto the counter next to them when he finished then placed his hands on her hips. The whole time, his eyes never left Emma's.

Emma was struck dumb at what she saw in his eyes, her arms subconsciously falling to her side. His eyes were so soft and expressive and instinctively, she knew that right then, in that moment, Gold was the happiest he'd been in a long time, maybe ever. She couldn't decide what was more surprising, that Gold seemed to feel that way or that she herself felt the exact same thing.

Being around Henry made her the happiest she's ever been but this was a whole different kind of happy. It was a contented kind of happy, the kind people felt when they were in love, and for the first time it didn't frighten her or make her want to flee, it gave her all the more reason to stay.

When Gold leaned in to kiss her, she wasn't quite ready for it. She was still looking intently at his eyes as though mesmerized by them. However, that didn't stop her from returning the kiss, her arms returning to his body and resting on his hips.

As the kiss deepened, Emma's hands made their way back to the buttons on Gold's shirt, returning to the task of unbuttoning the last of them. When Emma had undone the final button, she tugged the rest of his shirt out from his jeans. Her hands roamed all over his back underneath his shirt, relishing the feel of his skin under her palms.

As she did so, Gold's thumbs drew little figure eights on the bit of exposed skin at her hips beneath her blouse. Emma then brought her hands back around to his front, making her way to Gold's belt to undo it. She had gotten the buckle undone before Gold's hands halted her own.

She broke away from the kiss giving him a questioning look. He just smiled down at her, answering her unspoken question. Emma then grabbed Gold by his hand and led the way to Gold's bedroom.

Right when they got into Gold's bedroom, Emma turned back around to face Gold, still holding onto his hand and began kissing him again. Dropping his hand, she brought her hands up to Gold's shoulders, pushing his shirt off of them. She did so slowly and sensuously, kissing his chest as she did it. In no time at all, Gold was relieved of the garment and it was carelessly discarded on the floor.

Gold wrapped his arms around her waist, walking her backwards towards his bed, relieving her of her own shirt as they went. By the time they had made it to the bed, the rest of their clothes joined their shirts carelessly discarded, making a haphazard trail to the bed. This time, to both of their delight, they were not interrupted.

* * *

A/N: I'm sure some of you were expecting something smutty for this but nope, not in this story lol. Though don't disparage, the story does not end here. I've still got a few more chapters planned. I'm really busy the next two weeks so the next chapter won't be up too soon (haven't even started writing it yet) but it won't be too long either. Hope you liked the chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Here's chapter 7. Read, review and enjoy!

* * *

Emma awoke in Gold's bed the next morning, arms crossed under her pillow cradling her head, to him tracing patterns on her bare back with his finger.

"Hmm," she mumbled still half asleep as he placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder. "What time is it?"

"Six a.m." he answered rubbing her neck. He traced the mark that he had left on her there the previous afternoon.

"Six a.m., why the hell are you waking me up?" Emma replied turning her head to look at him, propping herself up a bit on her elbows.

Before answering her, Gold leaned in and captured her lips in a delicate kiss. "I thought you might like to get up early so you could go home and change before you have to be at the station."

"Oh—um, well actually I may have brought a change of clothes…" said Emma sheepishly. At Gold's questioning gaze, she elaborated, "I left it in the car. I didn't want you to think I was, too, uh, presumptuous."

Gold chuckled lightly, smiling sweetly at her as he kissed her again. "Presumptuous, huh? I'm afraid it's too late for that, dearie. I recall some time ago, not long after you arrived in Storybrooke actually, telling you I thought you were presumptuous. I also recall in the same instance telling you I liked you because of that. That hasn't changed in the slightest."

"Hmm, yeah, I think I remember that, too. I also recall you telling me you'd rather have me on your side…"

"Yeah…"

"Well I'm on your side now…well more like by your side, there aren't really _sides_ anymore now that things have calmed down and it's finally peaceful in Storybrooke." Gold looked nonplussed. "So what do you plan to do with me now I'm by your side?" Emma asked slightly suggestively, though her eyes seemed to be looking for a more serious answer.

Gold had to think about her question for a moment. He never would have imagined that he'd have Emma Swan lying next to him in his bed of her own free will and more than happy to be there. He'd been waiting and hoping for longer than he cared to admit for Emma to be by his side.

Whether people would ever believe it or not, he hadn't planned this, didn't orchestrate it. If he had glimpsed this relationship with Emma in his future, he never would have believed it. He was grateful for it though and now that she was by his side he intended to make sure it stayed that way and as it happened there was something he would like to do with her now that she was with him.

"How about this, you hop in the shower, I'll run out to your car and grab your bag and we can talk more about that over breakfast," Gold suggested.

Emma made a face as though she were thinking really hard about what he'd said, "On one condition," she countered.

"And what's that?"

"You join me in the shower after you grab my bag," she answered with a smirk. Then without waiting for his answer she got out of bed, not bothering to cover up at all, and headed to the bathroom.

Gold smirked to himself as he watched her naked form retreat to his bathroom. She really was exceptionally beautiful. Every inch of her skin was flawless, curves in all the right places. He imagined he would never tire of watching her saunter away from him, naked like that, every morning.

With a smirk still gracing his lips he made to get out of bed, throwing on a pair of briefs and grabbing his shirt from the night before off the floor and putting it on, not bothering to button it up. He made his way down the stairs and grabbed Emma's keys from out of her coat pocket where it hung on the coat rack by the door. He quickly ran out to her car and grabbed her bag of spare clothes, eager to get back inside and join Emma in the shower.

Nearly an hour later, the two of them stood in the kitchen, Gold in front of the stove cooking Emma and him breakfast. Emma stood across the counter from him, arms laid out in front of her, her fingers interlaced. She gazed admiringly at him as he cooked.

"What?" Gold asked.

"What, what?" She returned.

"You're staring at me."

"Is that a problem?"

He tore is eyes away from the skillet in his hand, "Not at all," he answered peering into Emma's eyes and smiling at her, "I was just curious as to why you were staring at me."

"Just admiring the view, that's all."

"I'm not a piece of meat, dearie," Gold quipped.

Emma scoffed at him. "If you're allowed to gawk at me like you did earlier when I went to get in the shower—Yeah, that's right, I saw that," she added at his perplexed look. He hadn't realized she'd noticed him do that, "then I'm allowed to do the same."

"You make a compelling argument," conceded Gold. "Now come sit down, breakfast is ready."

Emma did as Gold said. Gold placed her plate in front of her as she took a seat. Emma took a forkful of her eggs as Gold sat down across from her.

"Mmm," she moaned, "it's even better than I expected. Where did you learn to cook so well?"

"I've lived a long time, dearie. There are a lot of things I can do," he answered elusively.

"I'll bet," she replied. "So, back to the conversation we were having in bed. What do you plan to do with me now that you've got me, Gold." Her voice held no tone of suggestiveness this time around. It was all business.

"Since you asked, there is something I'd like to ask you, something I would like for us to do…together."

"Yeah?" She asked tentatively. Gold looked awfully serious.

"There used to be this thing at the convention center on the edge of town every year. Ever since you came to town things haven't been…normal. It's been much more exciting here,"

"That's one word for it," Emma interrupted.

"Precisely. Anyway, now that things have settled back down again the event has been reinstated."

"What event is that exactly?"

"The Mayor's Ball. It's a sort of charity event, there's a small fee to attend and the proceeds go to the running of other small government funded events throughout the year. Everyone in town usually attends, apart from myself…usually. I'd like to finally attend for once and was hoping you might accompany me."

Gold looked down at his plate shyly and poked at his food, taking a small bite and avoiding Emma's eye. Emma liked it when he got that way. He wasn't the kind of man who let things faze him easily and she got a perverse sense of glee out of being the only one who was able to disarm him so.

"Yeah, I think I could do that," Emma replied nonchalantly, though she was actually very excited at the prospect of going to the Ball with Gold. She'd never been to a Ball before or any sort of formal event actually. She'd never even gone to a school dance.

"Excellent," Gold said smiling, beginning to eat his breakfast with renewed vigor now that Emma had agreed to accompany him. "It's very formal, this Ball, so you'll be wanting to get a dress."

"I assumed. I'm not a big fan of dresses though really, but as it's for a special occasion, I suppose I could don one for a night."

"Good because not wearing a dress isn't an option. I bet you're stunning in a dress," he commented.

"Well you'll just have to wait and see," Emma replied, and then glanced down at her watch. "Oh shit, it's already quarter after eight. I usually like to be at the station by eight thirty. I've got to get going."

Emma moved to stand up from the table. Gold copied her actions, grabbing their plates as he did, going to put them in the sink.

"Of course, not a problem. Let me walk you out."

"Ok, great," Emma said, making her way to the front door. Gold grabbed his cane and trailed after her.

With her hand on the doorknob, Gold called out to her, "Your jacket, dearie."

"Oh shit, thanks, I almost forgot."

Gold grabbed her jacket from the coat rack. "Why don't you join me for lunch later?" He asked as he helped her put her jacket on.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll call you around lunchtime and see what you want to do. I gotta get going though. I'll call you later. Bye," she said heading out the door.

Before she could leave though, Gold grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back to him. He planted a firm kiss on her lips. "Bye."

* * *

Mary Margaret came out of the bedroom ready to head to the school as David sat eating some cereal for breakfast at the island in the kitchen.

"Hey, did you know our daughter didn't come home last night?" David asked her as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Oh, right, yeah…um, I did know that. She told me last night she wasn't going to be home."

"And you're ok with that?" David asked skeptically.

"There's not much we can do about it David. Emma's a grown woman. You said yesterday that you were all right with the whole thing, her and Gold," Mary Margaret replied.

"Well I didn't realize…" David began, but Mary Margaret interrupted him.

"Didn't realize what, exactly? We already knew they were sleeping together. What did you think they were going to do if Emma went over there for dinner?" She asked almost laughing at David for how naïve he was being about Emma and Gold.

"I—I don't know I guess. I know she's not our 'little girl' and we missed that part of her life but I can't help sometimes but still see her that way."

"I know, sweetie," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I understand, but you've got to remember she's an adult. And I really think Gold cares about her, truly, so, you know, relax a little bit. Our daughter can handle herself if things don't work out with Gold."

"Yeah, I suppose so," he replied, though not entirely convinced that Emma being with Gold was such a good idea. After all, David still remembered who Gold was. That little bit of Rumplestiltskin would always be inside of Gold; he'd be remiss if he didn't make sure Gold's intentions were pure.

* * *

As Gold sat in the backroom of his shop, he heard the bell above his jingle. "Ah, Prince Charming," he greeted as he stepped out into the main part of the shop. "I was wondering when you'd stop by to see me."

"You knew I'd come?" David asked, genuinely surprised. He hadn't even thought about coming to see Gold until that morning.

"Oh yes, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist once Emma and I became an actual couple. Playing the prince, playing the hero as always."

"So you know why I'm here then?"

"Of course I do. And I understand your concern."

"You do?"

"How about we skip the part where you keep asking me that and just assume that I mean it when I say I know something, hm? Good. I understand why you're concerned, why you feel the need to protect your daughter by threatening me, warning me or interrogating me.

"I was a piece of work back in the Enchanted Forest. I manipulated and used a lot of people in my time for selfish reasons; I'm not denying it. But I have what I'd been searching for. My son is here now, I've found him. What's more, I have Emma. Apart from my own flesh and blood, Emma is the only person who has been willing to stick around me for any length of time without trying to change me. I assure you, I am in no hurry to do anything that might cause her to leave."

"You knew about Emma being born and that she would be the one to come here and break the curse and save us all, how can I be sure you didn't plan this, didn't see this coming?" David asked, confirming what Gold had suspected earlier, that people would assume this was some part of grand scheme of his.

"You can't be sure. You could believe me, though I doubt you will. Only time can make you see that I genuinely care about Emma. I swear to you I didn't foresee this. I only cared to look far enough into the future to see what would allow me to find my son and that was Emma being born and coming here on her 28th birthday. That was as far as I saw, as far as I looked, and that time has come and gone. If I had seen this in my future I would have thought I'd gone mad, I can barely believe even now that it's actually happening."

David still wanted to doubt Gold but his words seemed to ring true. He looked pretty sincere; as sincere as David had ever seen him look.

"I didn't come here to threaten you, but since you mentioned it—You had better be good to her Gold, or so help me…"

"I know, you'll send your wife after me," Gold quipped. It was only half a joke, Gold would always be more afraid of what Snow White would do to him than what Prince Charming would. As they say, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and that went double for a woman who was a mother as well.

"That's right," David agreed as he turned to walk back out of the store.

As Gold watched him walk away, he couldn't help himself, "Oh, David, will you and Mary Margaret be attending the Mayor's Ball this year?"

"As far as I know," David answered, giving Gold a queer look, not entirely sure why he was asking.

"Then I shall see you there," and then he headed back to the backroom without another word, leaving David standing there to contemplate the meaning of his words.


	8. Chapter 8

__A/N: It's been a while but here's chapter 8. Read, review and enjoy!

* * *

_Hmm, I'm getting pretty hungry, maybe I should give Gold a call and we can grab a bite to eat_, Emma thought as her stomach made a grumbling sound.

Shuffling some papers around on her desk she found her phone hidden underneath some files and she grabbed it up. She quickly found Gold's name in her contacts and clicked it. The phone didn't ring long before Gold picked up.

"Gold," he stated gruffly.

"Hey…it's me," Emma replied.

"Oh, Emma, I didn't realize it was you. I didn't look at the caller ID. Sorry." His greeting had been less than ideal he thought. He got that way while he was at work though, always being a bit curt when he was interrupted.

Emma chuckled lightly. "No, it's fine. I was getting a little hungry and thought I'd give you a call and see what you'd like to do for lunch. Wanna grab a bite to eat at Granny's?"

"Granny's sounds marvelous, but I'd rather we ate in my shop if you don't mind," answered Gold.

"Oh, um…" Emma kind of did mind. It seemed to her as though he didn't want to eat out in public with her. She figured when they'd agreed to see each other officially or whatever, that that would mean they could go out on dates like couples did and stuff.

Though if that was the reason, why did he want to go to the Ball with her, that would be very public. Did he want to wait and make their first public appearance together somewhere everyone would see? That both did and didn't sound like something Gold would do. She was really confused now.

"That would be fine, I guess…" she trailed off and she didn't even bother trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Gold noticed it too, the long hesitation and the disappointed tone. Sometimes he forgot that Emma had insecurities just like everyone else since she tended to keep them so hidden and guarded behind her walls. Now that they'd gotten closer, however, Gold was usually able to see right through her. This time he didn't need to look hard, she was noticeably disappointed. She'd misunderstood him, so he felt the need to clarify.

"I'm not trying to hide you, dearie—"

"I—no that's…," Emma interrupted hastily. How did he always do that, how did he know exactly what she was thinking? He couldn't even _see_ her! Now she wanted to try and cover her tracks and come off as some silly insecure teenager or something. "I didn't—"

"You misunderstood me, Emma. I would rather eat here in my shop, not because I wish to continue to hide our relationship from others but because I have something here in the shop I'd like to show you. Hell, if you want proof that that's not what I'm doing I'll meet you at the diner to pick up lunch and kiss you right there in front of everyone…and maybe take you a few other places around town to make sure the whole town knows," he vowed.

"Right…sorry."

Gold laughed lightly at her. "You don't have to apologize, dearie. Now would you like me to go with you to pick up our lunch—"

"No, that won't be necessary," she answered interrupting him again. "I'll go get it and bring it over to the shop."

"Ok, I'll see you in a little bit then," Gold replied.

"Yeah, see ya," and she hung up. Then she got up from her desk, threw on her jacket and headed down the road to the diner.

Emma seated herself at a stool towards the middle of the bar while she waited for Ruby to finish taking someone else's order before she made her way over to her.

"Hey, Emma, sorry about that wait," greeted Ruby.

"Oh, no problem I'm not in any hurry. Just ordering lunch for me and Gold," she replied.

"Oooh, ok," she said with a suggestive smirk.

Emma just narrowed her eyes at her in return. "So yeah, I just need a couple of burgers to-go, and make sure to throw some pickles on Gold's, will ya?"

"Yeah no problem," she remarked as she wrote down the order. She took it back to the cooks and then promptly returned to Emma to chat. "So how are things?"

"I assume you mean with Gold?"

"Obviously," Ruby replied.

"They're good so far. I had dinner over at his place last night, he's a really good cook by the way."

"Oh yeah. And the night went well?" Ruby was trying to get Emma to reveal a bit more. She could really care less about how good of a cook Gold was; she wanted to hear all the goods.

"Well I didn't go home, if that's what you wanted to know," Emma replied.

Ruby did a little jig at that bit of information. "That's exactly what I wanted to know. Now, did he ask you to stay or…?" she trailed off, knowing Emma would understand what she was asking.

"Um, no, I definitely initiated that overnight stay…not that he wouldn't have asked eventually though," she answered, shrugging off her jacket. It was a little warm in the diner that day.

"You dirty bird," Ruby playfully chided.

"Yeah and then this morning over breakfast he asked me to—"

"OH MY GOD! IS THAT A HICK—"

But before Ruby could finish that question, Emma practically jumped over the counter to clap her hand over the younger woman's mouth. One hand was covering Ruby's mouth and the other was on the back of her head, it was just instinct. Emma didn't mind people knowing she was seeing Gold but she didn't need everyone knowing he'd left a hickey on her neck.

Ruby's eyes were wide with surprise. Partially due to the discovery of the hickey on Emma's neck and partially due to how quickly Emma had reacted to stop her from finishing her sentence.

"Shh," Emma hissed. Taking her hands of Ruby, she muttered a quick "sorry" and decided she'd just keep her jacket on despite the heat. She'd forgotten that the mark was there and that her jacket was an easy way to hide it from prying eyes.

Now that Ruby was able to make noises again, the first thing she did was laugh. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted I guess. It just surprised me that's all. That's a pretty serious hickey, didn't realize Gold was the rough kind," she said smirking again. "Anyway, before I rudely interrupted you, you were saying something about what he asked you this morning?"

"Right, yeah. The Mayor's Ball, you heard of it?"

"The one this Saturday, of course I have. It happens every year…well it did until you came to town anyway," she amended. "Wait, did he ask you to the Mayor's Ball?" Ruby sounded very surprised at that.

"It's this Saturday?! That's really soon…shit. Well yeah, he asked me to go to it with him Emma answered simply.

"Wow. He's never gone to the ball before. Well I guess he's never had anyone to take before but neither does a lot of people, they just go for the meal. I've always gone just for the food and conversation, really."

"So this thing, it's a kind of a big deal?"

"Oh yeah definitely. People get all dressed up and stuff, it's a lot of fun," she said smiling. "OH OH! Can I help you find a dress?!"

"What makes you think I need help finding a dress?" Emma asked, feigning being insulted.

"Well I've never seen you wear a dress once since you've been in town," Ruby replied not faltering the slightest at Emma's fake hurt.

Emma laughed. "That's true. And yeah, actually, I was going to ask you anyway. And it's Tuesday so I guess we could go tonight and get it out of the way so I'm not rushing around trying to find a dress to wear on Friday or something?"

"Oh yeah, absolutely. There's this cute little dress shop on the other side of town we can go to. They've got dresses for all occasions. I'll bet we'll find something great for you to wear."

"Ok, great. Just give me a call when you're off or just head over to the station and we can go right away."

"Will do. Oh and look, your order's all set to go. I'll see ya later," she said as she handed Emma her order.

"Later," and Emma walked out of the diner and headed down to Gold's shop.

The little bell dinged as Emma walked in and Gold stood from his desk in the back to go greet her. She was already standing in front of the display case at the very back of the shop. He walked around it to stand next to her. He placed a hand on the small of her back and planted a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Hello, dearie."

"Hi," she breathed. That kiss had left her a little breathless, however chaste it was, because it had been so sweet, so…loving and tender. "Well here's lunch," she said gesturing to the bag on the counter in front of her. "So what's this thing you wanted to show me?"

"Ah, well it's actually something I'd like to give you, rather than just show you," he answered as he picked up the bag of food. "It's in the backroom. Why don't we take this" he motioned to the bag of food in his hand, "and eat at my desk back there so we can both sit down and then I can show it to you."

Hmm something he wanted to give to her. She wondered what that could possibly mean. And he'd kept it in the back, which she supposed meant it wasn't for other people to see or buy, that he'd kept it for her.

"Sure, sounds good," Emma replied.

Gold held out his arm for Emma and she linked hers with his as they walked to the backroom. When they got back he motioned for Emma to sit at the desk where he'd already placed a chair for her, set the bag on the desk and sat down across from her.

Emma looked at Gold expectantly, waiting for this mysterious gift he was going to give her.

"Eat first and then you can have your present," he said catching the look she was giving him.

It was partially because he was stalling, not wanting to give it to her because he wasn't sure how she'd react to the gift and partially because he was very hungry and wanted to eat first. Though it was definitely more for stalling.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" He asked her as they began eating.

"Um, actually, yeah. I'm going dress shopping with Ruby after work," she answered, taking a large bit out of her burger.

"Uh-oh, should I be concerned?" Gold joked as he too took a large bite of his burger. "You got pickles on mine," he commented slightly in wonder.

"Well yeah, I know how much you like them so I got yours with pickles on it."

"Thank you," he replied earnestly.

"You're welcome. And as far as if you should be concerned about Ruby helping me find a dress, it's possible. I'll try to rein her in a bit but no guarantees it'll work. I might be a little concerned myself about what sort of dress she might try to get me into. The way she tends to dress she'll probably end up forcing me into some slinky little dress or something."

"Hmm, on second thought I think it's a great idea that Ruby's helping you find a dress," Gold quipped.

"Yeah, I'll bet," Emma joked back. "I'm sure you'd love to see me in some low cut form fitting dress."

"Absolutely I would. I can almost picture it now. If it turns out anything like what I'm imagining, I'm not sure what part I'll enjoy more, seeing you wear it, or taking it off of you later," he replied licking his lips.

"Well, you've got quite the imagination then," she returned.

"You have no idea," said Gold as his eyes roamed over her, picturing her wearing a skin tight dress that accentuated her every curve, the kind that left very little to the imagination. Though that bit he didn't have to imagine, he'd seen that plenty of times to know that it was far better than what anyone else could possibly imagine.

"Do you need a glass of water there, big boy? You look a little flushed," she quipped.

In response he threw his napkin across the desk at her. "Charming, dearie, truly charming, you are."

"Yeah, it runs in the family I hear."

Gold gave a hearty guffaw at that comment. He hadn't intended on making that little pun but it did fit oh so perfectly. She was very charming, in all respects.

"Any plans for after dress shopping?" Gold asked.

"Well depending on how long Ruby keeps me there dressing me up like some Barbie doll, I might be pretty exhausted by that point so I was thinking I'd just head home and eat some leftovers and call it a night."

"Oh, ok," Gold replied, sounding slightly disappointed by her answer.

"I mean…did you have something in mind?" Emma asked.

"No, just—I don't know I hoped you might want to come and stay with me for the night."

"Here's the thing," Emma began, "it's only noon and I'm a little exhausted, probably due to that little bout of shower sex this morning and I'm not sure I'll be up for anymore, you know," she replied.

"We wouldn't have to have sex just because you stay the night with me, you know," Gold responded sounding slightly affronted.

"I—Well, um…" She didn't know what to say. It wasn't that she still thought all he wanted from the relationship was sex, that much was clear, but still he was a guy and she just assumed "staying over" meant "having sex". It always had in the past. Maybe she should just stop thinking about how things were with guys in her past, it was painfully obvious how different Gold was from any other men she'd dated.

"I mean, I certainly enjoy having sex with you, as I'm sure you're well aware but that's not the only reason I enjoy your company. I like spending time with you. And I really enjoyed waking up next to you this morning. It's something I could never get tired of," Gold said looking directly into her eyes.

Emma was taken slight aback by his completely unguarded honesty. Again, it was unlike anyone she'd ever been with before. And he meant it too; she could see it in his eyes that were locked with her own.

"Then, yeah, I suppose I could come over after shopping and stay at your place for the night," she replied.

"Well don't feel like you're obligated to just because—"

"No, it doesn't feel like an obligation. I want to. Really. I just—I don't know, I just assumed you meant for sex, since that's what guys have usually meant when they've said that to me."

"I'm not like other men you've dated, dearie." It was a statement and a vow at the same time, a vow that he would never be like the men from her past.

"I know that. I guess I just forget sometimes. Old habits die hard I guess. So yeah, I'll run home after and grab some pajamas and a change of clothes and head to your place after shopping."

"Excellent," Gold replied, a sweet smile gracing his lips. "And on that note, I think it's time for your gift."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," she lied. She'd been anxiously waiting for this moment since he said she was getting a gift.

Gold reached into one of his desk drawers and pulled out a long thin box. It looked like the kind of box a necklace came in.

"I noticed you used to wear a swan necklace, and I also noticed that you no longer have it anymore."

She'd removed it after she ran into Neal again out of anger but it had felt good getting rid of it and finally closing that chapter of her life after so many years.

"When I found this, I had to buy it for you, I couldn't resist." he continued, handing the box to her for her to open.

Inside was a golden necklace of a small swan. The eye of the swan was a tiny, delicate diamond, which Emma could tell just from it's shine that it was most certainly a real diamond, and the wing of the swan was also a diamond, though considerably larger. Emma could tell this necklace probably cost a fortune. She couldn't accept such an extravagant gift.

"Oh my god," she stated in awe. "It's—It's beautiful."

Gold smiled triumphantly at her words. She liked it. She thought it was beautiful.

"I can't accept this."

Gold's smile crumbled.

"It's way too expensive," she continued. "I can't let you give me something like this."

"I'm not asking you to _let_ me give it to you. I'm giving it to you. I want to give it to you. I've got plenty of money; please let me give you this necklace. It fits you so perfectly I think. Please?" Gold pleaded.

Emma so badly wanted that necklace, it was so beautiful and the significance of the necklace being of a _golden swan_ wasn't lost on her at all but it was so expensive. She couldn't accept it. But why not, he wanted to give it to her. Wouldn't it be rude to not accept it? She decided it would be unforgivably rude to not accept the gift.

"Thank you," she replied in answer to his pleading.

Gold then grabbed the box back from her and stood up to walk around the desk to her. He took the necklace carefully out of the box and unclasped it.

"May I?" He asked gesturing to her with the necklace.

In answer, Emma stood and turned her back to him, pulling her hair up out of the way.

Gold slipped his arms through her up-stretched arms then pulled the to ends of the necklace apart, pulled them back behind her neck and re-clasped it. He ran his fingers lightly along the back of her neck as he did so then planted a soft kiss where the necklace rested against her neck.

Emma leaned her neck to the side in response to his kiss and pulled her hair around to the side with one hand, letting the other fall back to her side.

Gold placed another kiss on her neck when she tilted it giving him better access. He let his hands fall from her back to rest on her waist. Then he turned her around to look at the necklace.

"Beautiful," he commented as he ran his hands along the length of the necklace to where it came to a rest just above her breasts. He let one hand trail back up the necklace until it came to a rest on the back of her neck and he pulled her in for a kiss.

The kiss was soft and tender, like most of their kisses tended to be now that they were officially a couple. She liked these kisses much better. They made her weak at the knees and made her stomach do flip-flops and she liked it a lot. She could stand there kissing him like that forever, but unfortunately she had to get back to work.

Emma pushed him lightly away from her on his chest, breaking their kiss. He gave her a questioning look.

"I'm sorry, but I've gotta get back to work, remember?"

"Ah, of course. My bad," he replied.

"I'll see you later tonight though."

"I'm looking forward to it," he commented. Then he watched her leave. He could tell by the way her right arm lifted in front of her that she was fingering the necklace he had given her and it made another smile rise to his lips as he watched her depart.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Wow, uh, it's been a long time hasn't it? Sorry about that for anyone who's been eagerly awaiting a new chapter (probably none of you) but I'm taking a summer class and it's a history seminar, which basically means a lot of work and I just finished up my 15 page (single spaced) annotated bibliography for it, which if you don't know that that is consider yourself lucky 'cause they're basically shit on a stick. Anyway the paper is done and I turn it in this week so I was finally able to do some writing and this is what came out of it. So on with it then, Ruby and Emma go dress shopping.

* * *

"Knock, knock," Ruby said announcing her presence and popping her head just inside the door to Emma's office. "I brought some coffee too," she added, holding up two cups of the aforementioned beverage.

"Ah, great, I could use a coffee," Emma returned, standing from her chair to grab the proffered cup of Joe. "Thanks."

"No problem. Hey, nice necklace," Ruby added, pointing to the new necklace Gold had given her earlier that day.

Reflexively Emma's hand went up to her neck to caress the piece of jewelry.

"Oh, uh, thanks…Gold gave it to me."

"Really?! Wow, it's really pretty," she said eyeing it closely. "Huh, who knew Gold had such a sweet side," Ruby commented.

"Uh, yeah, he's actually surprisingly sweet a lot, really."

"No kidding…well, anyway, speaking of Gold, you ready to go pick out a sexy little number to wear to the Ball with Gold?" Ruby asked her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"I don't know about a 'sexy little number', but a dress for the Ball, yeah, I'm ready to go. Just let me put all this shit away real quick," Emma answered pointing to the papers on her desk and rolling her eyes at Ruby.

"Oh come on, you know you want to wear a sexy little dress for Gold, he'll love it…and maybe if you tell him I'm the one who convinced you to get a sexy little dress he'll lower our rent!" Ruby looked like an excited five year old at Christmas as though she actually believed what she said was a real possibility.

"Yeah, that's likely," Emma stated sarcastically.

"Hey, a girl can dream, ok?" Ruby retorted.

Emma just laughed in response and put on her coat. "All right, lets go, I'll drive."

"Awesome. I am so excited!" And she looked it too, that mischievous twinkle still present in her eyes.

"I think I might be a little scared," Emma sighed, as she headed out of her office, Ruby trailing along behind her.

"Oh come on, it won't be that bad. It'll be fun!"

Emma just huffed as the two of them reached her bug and got in. She hated shopping, always had but a little part of her was kind of excited for this little shopping trip. It gave her a little giddy feeling knowing that she was only doing this so she could have something to wear to the Ball with Gold, something she was greatly looking forward to. Maybe it wouldn't be all that bad.

"There, the place on the corner," Ruby pointed out when they got close to the dress shop.

"Ok, great. And look there's a spot right out front. Perfect," Emma answered, pulling into the spot and putting the car in park.

The two women got out of the car and Emma walked over to the window of the shop taking a peek inside. She could see a few dresses in the display that were really nice, though not really her style.

"Come on, there's more inside, let's go," Ruby pressed.

"All right, all right, I'm coming," Emma whined in return and then she followed Ruby into the store.

Once inside, Emma could see that there was indeed a lot more dresses within the store, though none of them were really popping out at her. Ruby, however, seemed to find just about everything in there appealing and was practically skipping through the store pulling things off racks, checking them out and mostly putting them back on the rack.

"Oooh, look at this one, Emma."

Emma followed the sound of Ruby's voice and found her on the completely other side of the store holding up a little black dress. It was nice but it seemed a bit too plain to her. It was a simple halter-top dress with a very low back, and a low front to match it.

"At least try it on," Ruby pleaded, seeing Emma's passing look at the dress.

"Fine, I'll try it on, but please don't make me try on every single dress you think looks good," Emma pleaded in return.

"You're gonna do whatever I damn well tell you to do, girlie, and you're gonna like it!" Ruby joked tossing the dress to Emma.

She huffed. "Where's the dressing room?"

Ruby excitedly pointed to a room in the corner of the store and the two of them walked over to it, Emma entering inside. A short while later Emma came back out wearing the little black dress.

"Ho-ly-shit!" Ruby exclaimed.

Emma had to admit the dress looked a lot better on her than she had expected it to and despite it's plainness, it was actually really pretty but she still wasn't one hundred percent sold on it. It was practically skin tight and it fit her really well, but she didn't think it was the kind of dress she wanted to wear to the Ball. She wanted something a little more elegant.

"I don't know if it's really 'Ball' material," Emma said, turning a bit to show Ruby the rest of the dress and looking at herself in the mirror as she did so.

"Maybe not, but that's one hell of a dress. You couldn't wear underwear with a dress like that though," she added.

"Ruby!" Emma cried, whipping around to look at her friend.

"What, you couldn't. It's _way_ too tight, everyone would be able to see your panty lines and that is a big no-no, Emma."

"Well I wouldn't want them to be able to notice that I wasn't wearing underwear either," she explained.

"Just trust me on this, Emma, you'd rather them think you might not be wearing underwear than have them _knowing_ that you are. The panty lines ruin the whole flow of the dress. This is elementary stuff, Emma."

Emma rolled her eyes again at Ruby. She felt like she'd pull muscle in her eyes before the night was through.

"Hey, if you do buy this one and wear it…without underwear," she added giving Emma a pointed look, "make sure you tell Gold I talked you into getting it. He finds out I put you in a dress sans panties and he'll definitely lower my rent, hell, he might even pay _me_ in thanks."

Emma laughed heartily at Ruby's comment. She was really glad she'd asked Ruby to help her find a dress. She was still a little weary about what exactly Ruby might get her into but it was really nice having a friend like Ruby who would do this kind of stuff with her. It just wouldn't have been the same if she had taken Mary Margaret, though she supposed she definitely would have avoided that whole "no wearing underwear in this dress" conversation if she had.

"Ruby, you're killing me. Can you stop thinking about trying to get Gold to lay off you with rent and focus on me please," she jokingly chided.

"If you insist," Ruby answered, shaking her head.

Ruby put Emma through the ringer over the next hour and a half, shoving dress after dress after dress at her. Some were just for fun, little funky dresses that they just wanted to see what they looked like on. Ruby tried a few on herself; after all, she planned on going to the Ball too. In fact she was pretty excited about going this year and Emma suspected she had someone to go with this year, though she wasn't giving any hints as to who it might be.

Finally, however, Ruby and Emma spotted a red dress hanging on the wall on the other side of the store.

"Hey, what about that one?" Emma asked pointing to it.

"Hmm, let's see if we can get it down."

They walked over to it and Ruby reached up and grabbed the dress off the wall. She then held it up in front of Emma's body.

"Oh yeah, I think this might be the one. And the good news, you can wear underwear with it if you'd like…but you wouldn't have to," she said winking at Emma.

Emma raised a brow at her and grabbed the dress from Ruby's hands. She held it in front of her and turned to a nearby mirror. She'd have to try it on for sure, but she thought this one might be the one as well.

"Let me go try it on," said Emma.

In no time at all, Emma emerged from the dressing room wearing the dress. It was absolutely beautiful, the kind of dress that when people saw a person in it, it made them forget what they were doing or saying. It was stunning.

"That's it, that's the one," Ruby declared. "You're buying that dress. You look fucking amazing, Emma."

Emma blushed a bit and turned back to the mirror to get a better look at the dress. She had to admit it did compliment her very well for someone who rarely wore dresses. It was a deep red, though not quite blood red. The top half was form fitting, strapless and it had little horizontal ripples in it. At waist level it went out a bit more (hence the reason wearing underwear wasn't an issue) and went to just about knee level.

It was perfect she thought. Plus if Gold wore any of the kinds of suits he normally wore, or even a good old-fashioned tux, she imagined they'd match pretty well. She could practically picture it in her mind, the two of them entering the Ball hand-in-hand to the astonishment and confusion of a decent number of the crowd who didn't know about them yet.

She smiled at the image in her mind, thinking her and Gold looked quite well together and hoping reality turned out a little bit like her imagination. Out of nowhere, the image in her mind changed though and instead of walking hand-in-hand into the Ball, Emma wearing her red dress and Gold a nice suit, she was wearing a white dress and Gold a tuxedo and she was walking up the aisle towards him.

_Whoa, Emma, where the hell did that come from? Did you just picture getting married to Gold? Slow your roll, sweetie, you only just started officially dating._

And while the conscience in her mind was correct, they had just started dating for real; Emma couldn't shake the image and definitely couldn't shake the smile that had come to her lips at the scene in her mind. Shaking her head and the image from her mind, she refocused her attention on the real life image of herself in the mirror in front of her. She really did look great if she did say so herself.

"You're right, I think this is the one. I'm going to get it."

"Excellent!"

Then Emma and Ruby headed back to the counter with all the dresses they'd tried on. They placed them all on the counter for the workers to put away later and set the red one aside to pay for it. As the cashier came to ring her up, Emma quickly grabbed the little black number that she'd first tried on and placed it on top of the red dress she was buying. Ruby gave her a questioning glance.

"What, it looked good on me, ok? Besides everyone needs a little black dress, right?"

"Hey, you're not gonna get any arguments from me on it. I one hundred percent approve, I was just surprised that's all."

So the cashier rang up Emma's two dresses and she paid. Then Ruby paid for a dress she had picked out as well. They were both going to look amazing at that Ball.

"Oh shit!" Ruby exclaimed.

"What?!" Emma nearly shouted back. Ruby's outburst had startled her and she looked back at her clutching her chest.

"Do you have shoes to wear with that?" The look on Ruby's face was so serious it almost made Emma want to laugh about how ridiculous a question it really was. Instead she reached out and playfully swatted her on the arm.

"Jesus Christ, that's what you freaked out about? You scared the shit out of me. And yes, I have shoes I can wear with the dress, don't worry."

"Ok, good. 'Cause it took way too long just to find the dress, I don't think I'd have it in me to look for shoes too."

Emma laughed again at her friend. "Well you're in luck, 'cause I do in fact have a pair to wear. And I too am way too pooped to even think about having to do any more shopping. So, how about I take you home so I can go relax at ho—uh, Gold's."

She'd almost referred to Gold's place as home…and weirdly it didn't seem like a weird thing to say. Again that image of her walking down the aisle popped into her head.

"Oh, you're going to Gold's are you?" Ruby asked waggling her eyebrows at Emma as they entered Emma's car and left the shop.

"Uh, yeah…"

"Damn, girl, gettin' it!" Ruby exclaimed, the waggling brows of hers waggling even more.

"It's not like that, I'm just staying over. Besides I'm way to tired for sex tonight anyway."

"Oh, well, Gold might be a little disappointed, hell I'm a bit disappointed for him," Ruby commented.

"I don't know about that. When he asked me if I was going to come back to his place later I told him no at first, that I'd be tired and since we had sex this morning…"

Whoops, she hadn't meant to say that. She shot a tentative glance at Ruby to see her reaction to that.

Ruby was just looking back at her eager for the rest of the story. "Go on," she prompted.

"Uh…and I told him that I'd be too tired to go for round two and he got a bit offended that I had assumed he only wanted me to come over to sleep with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He just said that that wasn't the only reason he was with me and he didn't mind if I was too tired, he just wanted to spend time with me."

"Aww," Ruby cooed. "That's actually really sweet. He's got it bad for you, girl."

Emma blushed a smidge at her words. She idly wondered what Ruby would think if she knew she'd pictured marrying Gold twice that night. It seemed Emma might have it pretty bad for Gold too, way more than she'd ever thought possible, really.

"Yeah, I think he might," Emma replied.

"And oh my god, look at that blush! You've got it bad too!"

Emma blushed even more.

"Well I for one am happy for you, Emma. This is the happiest I've ever seen you. I never would've guessed it'd be Gold making you happy but I can totally see it now. I actually think you guys are kind of right for each other."

"Really?" Emma asked. She was genuinely curious. She herself had thought the same thing now and again but she thought it was interesting that someone else seemed to see it too.

"Well yeah, you two get each other, you know? I don't know and you're both so sarcastic and snarky sometimes. I like it, you play off each other real well and I think that's something that can make a relationship last."

"Yeah, uh, I think so too," she said just as they arrived in front of Granny's. "Well here we are."

"Right, well thanks for letting me play dress up with you today, it was a lot of fun and I will see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, no problem. I had a lot of fun too, honestly. And yes, I will definitely see you tomorrow. I can't get through the day with out your coffee."

"Then I will have a cup ready to go for you when you come in," Ruby said with a smile and got out of the car and headed inside.

* * *

A/N: I know, no Emma/Gold interaction but this ended up being a lot longer than anticipated and this seemed like a good place to end 'cause I think the next Emma/Gold scene I have planned is gonna be kinda longish too and I just thought it might've been too much for one chapter. Hope you liked it. Leave some reviews and make me smile and maybe it'll prompt me to write the next chapter really soon.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Here's Ch. 10, fluffiness (kinda) ensues, you've been warned.

* * *

After dropping Ruby off at the inn, Emma ran home really quickly to grab some things she would need for staying over at Gold's place for the evening. When she walked in, Mary Margaret was just putting away her dishes from dinner.

"How was shopping?" Mary Margaret greeted when she saw it was Emma who had walked in.

"Not too bad. I found a dress…two actually."

"Two?"

"Yeah, one for the Ball and uh, one for…fun I guess." Emma replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, well that's great," Mary Margaret said, turning back around to finish cleaning her dishes. "And there's some leftovers in the fridge if you want them. Just put 'em in there so they're still warm," she added.

"Um, no thanks…I'm actually just grabbing a few things and heading over to Gold's place for the night."

"Oh," Mary Margaret replied, sounding a bit crestfallen, but recovering quickly. "That sounds, uh, nice…I just did a load of wash, some of your stuff might be in there…"

"Ok, great, thanks." Emma said as she ascended the stairs to her bedroom.

Emma quickly snatched up a few clothes for the morning (more than one days worth) and some of her own things to shower with so that she wasn't walking around all day smelling like Mr. Gold. Although she had no problem with his scent lingering on her all day, she felt it might be a bit off putting to others. She even made sure to grab some pajamas.

Tossing everything into a couple little overnight bags, she made her way back downstairs. Mary Margaret was sitting on her bed folding the laundry.

"Hey, I'm outta here," she called to her, reaching out for the doorknob.

"Ok, I'll see you later," Mary Margaret called back.

"Later." And then Emma left, got into her car and headed over to Gold's.

When she pulled into Gold's driveway she was a little bit surprised at how much it felt like coming home, like this was where she was supposed to be and Mary Margaret's apartment was just that, Mary Margaret's. Though it was surprising, she found the feeling quite pleasant. And she thought she could get used to the idea of this house, Gold's house being home for her. It was a weird and unfamiliar feeling but one she liked a lot.

Getting out of the car she went around to the trunk to grab her bags from it. Then she made her way up the driveway to the front door, once again feeling like she was heading into her own home rather than just her "boyfriend's" house. When she got to the front door, it opened just as she reached it, Gold standing there smiling at her.

"Hello, dearie," he greeted, placing a quick kiss on her cheek and holding out his free hand to help her with her bags.

She handed one over to him and followed him into the kitchen where they placed the bags on the table.

"This looks like more than some pajamas," Gold commented knowingly looking at the other bags Emma was carrying in addition to the one he'd just set down on the table.

"I uh, couldn't decide what I might want to wear tomorrow," she mumbled, blushing a tiny bit.

"Ah, I see," he replied sarcastically. "And what's in here?" He asked, moving to poke around in the bag from the dress shop.

"Ah, ah, ah," Emma chided, snatching the bag away from his greedy hands and holding it behind her back.

"Emma," he said, a slight playfully warning tone to his voice. And he slinked over to her and went to try and grab the bag back away from her.

"Gold," she warned back, leaning away from him and pushing lightly on his chest with her free hand. "You have to wait until the Ball to see me in it," she explained.

"You make me wait all night for you to get back from your little shopping adventure and now you're making me wait until Saturday to see what it was that kept you so long?"

"That's right," she said simply.

"And what if I don't want to wait," he said, ignoring the hand on his chest and leaning in towards her again.

"Well I'm not putting it on until Saturday so what good will it do you to see the dress if I'm not in it?"

"Oh, well, I've got quite the imagination, my dear," he said with a grin.

"Oh I'm sure, but coming from someone who's seen me in this dress," she said shaking the bag behind her, "I can guarantee you're going to want to wait for the real thing."

She then winked at him and closed the distance left between them to place a quick kiss on his lips. Then she squirmed away from him and put the bag back on the table and gave him a look that said she'd meant it, he wasn't allowed to peek at the dress yet.

"In that case, I'll endure the wait," he said.

"A wise decision," she commented. "Now, do you have any food, I am starving, Ruby wore me out with the whole dress shopping thing."

"Of course I have food, help yourself," he said, pointing to the fridge. "I actually picked up pizza on my way home today, so there's leftover pizza you can heat up if you'd like."

"Ooh, yes! I love pizza!" Emma exclaimed.

"There's some beer in there as well, would you grab me one?"

"Yeah, no problem."

She pulled out the box of pizza and two beers and handed one to Gold before she put a few slices on her plate and tossed it in the microwave. Cracking open her beer she turned back around to face Gold. Emma wasn't surprised to find that he was looking at her.

"So, how was your little shopping adventure?" And he cracked open his own beer and took a quick sip.

"It was a lot of fun actually. I mean it was exhausting, that girl had me try on dozens of dresses, but it was actually fun. Probably the most fun I've had shopping ever. Shopping's never really been my thing."

"You don't say?" Gold asked sarcastically.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of dig at me and my clothes?"

"Not at all, dearie, I'm quite a fan of your choice in clothing, particularly your leather jackets, but you've never really struck me as the kind of woman who enjoyed endless hours of trivial shopping," he explained.

"Well yeah, I'm not usually. Definitely not on my own at least and I've never really had a friend like Ruby to do that kind of stuff with before. I mean I do enjoy getting new clothes, it's just the act of actually going out and finding them that I don't like."

"Completely understandable, my dear. I myself don't particularly enjoy the act shopping for clothes but I do enjoy having nice clothes."

"So I've noticed," she said looking him up and down where he was sitting at the table. He was still wearing his dress shirt and tie, but the waistcoat and jacket had been discarded. He was also still wearing his dress pants, of course, though he was barefoot. Emma found this sort of odd but also thought the look suited him for some reason.

Gold smirked back at her as she checked him out. Another thing he would surely never tire of was her looking at him that way. It wasn't just a lustful sort of look either, but also a look of admiration. He wasn't exactly sure that he deserved to have her look at him that way but he was really glad that she did. Not to mention how at home and comfortable she looked standing there by the counter eating her pizza and drinking her beer.

"Would you like to sit down, dearie?" He asked.

"Definitely, but can we sit in the living room and watch TV?!" She'd been so busy doing other things, like hiding her relationship with Gold from her parents that she hadn't had time to just sit back and relax in a long time.

"Of course," he said getting up and walking with her to the living room.

Immediately, as if she owned the place, she plopped herself down on the long sofa, legs stretched out along the whole length of it. Grabbing up the TV remote, Gold lifted up her feet sat down at the other end of the couch and replaced her feet in his lap, kicked his feet up onto the coffee table in front of them and turned on the TV.

"What do you want to watch?"

"I don't know just, here, give me that," she said holding her hand out for the remote. Wordlessly, with a small smile on his face, Gold handed over the remote and Emma began scrolling through the channels. Now that his hands were free he idly began to rub her feet as she searched for something to watch.

Emma smiled over at Gold when she felt him begin to rub her feet. It felt really nice; her feet were tired and sore from shopping with Ruby. Normally she didn't spend much time on her feet as Sheriff. He smiled back at her and continued what he was doing.

"Ooh, Harry Potter!" She exclaimed and turned on the movie. It was the first one in the series and it had just started.

Gold chuckled loudly and unabashedly.

"What?" Emma asked.

"I just never took you for a big Harry Potter fan," he answered.

"What's not to be a fan of, an orphaned kid suddenly gets told he's something special and is supposed to save an entire community of people…" she explained. "Sounds awfully familiar," she finished sarcastically.

Gold laughed again. "Well, when you put it like that." He'd never really given it any thought before but now that she'd said it the fictional tale of the young wizard did resonate with her own life quite a bit.

"Exactly, we're watching Harry Potter," she declared and she set her empty plate on the table next to her.

"As you wish."

Not long into the movie Gold stopped rubbing Emma's feet and pushed them off of his lap and onto the floor. Emma looked at him almost angrily but mostly questioningly.

"Come here," he commanded, motioning to the spot right beside him.

Sitting up, she switched positions so that she was now cuddling right up next to Gold, her head resting up by his shoulder. He reached around her and wrapped his arm around her to pull her closer to him and placed a feathery light kiss at her temple.

It all just felt right too, being so close to each other. Both their feet were out in front of them resting on the coffee table, toes just touching one another's. Her left hand was resting on his thigh near his knee her other was holding his hand of the arm he'd wrapped around her.

And again, that feeling of being home hit her hard and deep. It had been a long time since she'd been this comfortable around anyone. She still couldn't believe she'd found that feeling with Gold but that's what had happened. And in fact, she was so comfortable in that moment that not even an hour later, she'd fallen asleep wrapped up in Gold's soft embrace. He'd fallen asleep too, his head falling slightly to rest atop of hers.


	11. Chapter 11

Saturday night, the night of the Ball arrived far quicker than anyone in town was expecting. Most people spent the remainder of the week scurrying around town trying to find something to wear or finding someone to go to the Ball with. Emma was eternally grateful that her and Ruby had done their shopping earlier that week, that way she didn't have to deal with a bunch of other frantic women while she did her shopping.

The only thing of note that happened during the rest of the week for Emma was that she had yet to spend a single night back at her "own" apartment. She'd spent every night since her little shopping adventure at Mr. Gold's house. Each time she returned she had brought more of her belongings into his home. It had started with simply a few clothes and toiletries here and there but by Saturday she'd taken that one small box of belongings and taken it with her to Gold's. Even her old baby blanket had made its way there.

Aside from slowly moving herself into Gold's place, which he showed not one ounce of objection to, she'd spent most of the week scolding Gold for trying to take a peek at her dress. He'd gotten far enough to find that the bag from the store held two dresses not just one and that had only added to his intrigue and determination to find out what wonders that bag was holding. Emma had taken to hiding it in a different location every day to throw him off the scent. Only when she had to hang it up to make sure no wrinkles had marred the dress was he able to get sight of it, but that was only the one she was wearing to the Ball.

"Where's the other one?" Gold asked, moving the dress to see if the other one was hanging behind it.

"Other what?" She asked feigning ignorance just to annoy him. Annoying Gold was one of Emma's favorite things to do with him…well at least of the things that involved wearing clothing.

"The other dress, dearie. I saw another one in that bag of yours, so where did it go?"

"I hid it," she answered, returning to the task of brushing her hair. There was just over an hour left until the Ball and she still had plenty to do to get ready having only just got out of the shower. Emma and Gold had decided to do that particular task together, purely in the interest of saving time and water of course.

"And why on earth would you do that?" He asked pulling on his dress pants, which was all he was currently wearing and which was distracting Emma greatly. She herself was wearing a plain white tank top and yoga pants while she got ready. Then he took a seat on the bed and watched as Emma brushed her hair.

"Let me answer you this way, _dearie_," she began, mimicking his tone and Scottish accent and looking at him through the mirror. "Would you rather me show you that dress now, or come home to the wonderful surprise of me wearing it?"

Though Gold was itching to answer the question she'd posed him, he couldn't help but notice that she'd used the word "home" instead of specifying his home. So instead, he asked a question of his own.

"Home?"

"I-" Emma stammered, pausing in the act of brushing her hair, and then she realized she didn't have a problem with what she'd said or the connotation of it. All week she had thought of Gold's home as her home and it was about time she came out and said it. It's not as if either of them hadn't noticed that she'd essentially moved in. "Yeah…home. Your home, _our_ home…if you're okay with that," she said almost tentatively, fearing for a moment that Gold might not see it the same way she did.

"I am more than ok with that," he said smiling and coming to stand behind her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and leaned forward to place a kiss on her cheek. He then rested his head in the crook of her neck and swayed back and forth with her and locked eyes with hers through the mirror.

"In fact, nothing would make me happier," he added. And he then nibbled a bit on her ear and kissed her sweetly on her neck.

"Really?" She asked, turning around to face him.

He just gave her a do-you-really-need-to-ask kind of look. And in response she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

"I mean really, dearie. You're practically all moved in here anyway. And sure we've only officially been dating for this week but we've been sleeping together for almost two months now…and let's not forget the what, year of sexual tension and foreplay? But really, do you even have anything else of yours at Mary Margaret's apartment? "

She chuckled at his comment about sexual tension and foreplay and answered "no," to his question, and as if to demonstrate her point, she returned to the bathroom to pull out her hair dryer and curling iron, so she could finish doing her hair. "But it's nice to have it be uh, official or whatever."

"Well then, should I draw up some contract of sorts to state that you're officially living with me now?" He asked sarcastically. "You know how much I enjoy a good contract," he added, shouting now to be heard over the sound of her hair dryer.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, but thanks," she hollered back.

Gold just chuckled to himself as he made his way to his closet to pull out the rest of his ensemble for the evening. His outfit was pretty traditional for a Ball. It was an all black tuxedo with red waistcoat and tie that somehow perfectly matched the red color of Emma's dress. There was also a matching red pocket square to add a little something extra to the outfit.

As per usual he merely let his hair air-dry and by some miracle it managed to fall perfectly. It looked as smooth and flowy as it always did, not a single hair out of place and with a luscious shine to it, that Emma had yet to find another man who could pull that off so effortlessly. There were a few flecks of gray flowing with his brown locks but it only made him look more distinguished and handsome in Emma's opinion. And as far as Gold was concerned, that was the only opinion that mattered.

Gold had long since finished getting ready by the time Emma came back out of the bathroom with her hair all done. She had curled it like it had been on the night that Gold had first met her. Though Gold thought Emma looked beautiful no matter what way she did up her hair, if he was being completely honest, he preferred it curled. He always thought the look suited her quite well.

"It's about time, dearie," he said as she came out of the bathroom.

"Oh shut up," she said, punching him lightly on the arm. "It's easier for guys, ok? It takes a lot of work to get my hair to do this," and she pointed at her head for emphasis.

"Well worth the time and effort if you ask me," he replied.

"Yeah, you like it?"

"Absolutely. Now you just need to put on the dress and shoes so I can admire the full ensemble."

"You sure you're ready, big boy?" She asked mischievously.

"Quite. I've been waiting days to see you in that dress. I'm not particularly fond of waiting, so why don't I help you?" And he grabbed the dress from where it was hanging and handed it to her.

"Well, just hold that for a sec and let me get out of this," she said gesturing to the clothes she was already wearing. Then she shimmied out of her yoga pants, pulled off her tank-top and moved to poke around in a drawer she'd claimed as her own just the other day to find her strapless bra.

"On second thought," Gold began as she walked past him half-naked to "her" drawer. "Why don't you stay just as you are and we'll skip the Ball altogether?" He finished with a wolfish grin.

"Nuh uh, you're not getting out of this now. I bought a dress for this—I don't buy dresses so, this is pretty special." And then, quite possibly just to annoy him even further and drive him even more wild, she stripped off the bra she was wearing to replace it with the strapless one. She didn't bother turning around so he couldn't see or anything, she wanted him to get a look, but only just a tease.

_It's not like he's not going to see it again later anyway_, she thought to herself.

"You will be the death of me, Emma," he exhaled shaking his head at her. She simply smirked in response and that just confirmed his earlier statement in his opinion.

"You're immortal," she retorted. "Now give me that," she added pointing to the dress, which he wordlessly handed over to her. She quickly slipped into it and her shoes and then turned her back on him. "Zip me up."

"As you wish," and he did as he was bid.

He placed his left hand tenderly on her waist as he pulled the zipper up her back. Then he slid his hands up her body, coming to a rest on her shoulders and he spun her back around to face him. He let his hands fall down her arms until he was holding a hand of hers in each of his and leaned back slightly to get a better look at all of her. After a good look at her front he lifted up on of his arms, taking hers along with it and motioned for her to turn around once.

She was absolutely stunning, more beautiful than he could have imagined…even with his admittedly vivid imagination. The dress hugged her perfectly in all the right places but wasn't quite so tight as to seem too revealing. The dark color of the dress contrasted beautifully with her light skin and her yellow hair. And something, be that the dress, her hair or her make-up, really made her eyes pop and look incredible, leaving him speechless.

"Well?" She asked shyly when she turned around to face him again.

"I—You…wow."

Emma giggled shyly at his response. "Speechless, huh? How often does that happen?"

"Never in all my years, dearie, have I been so beyond words."

She blushed at his words and looked away from him bringing a hand up to fiddle with her earring out of nervousness and shyness. He was always able to do that, make her revert to some younger version of herself, as if experiencing these sorts of things and feelings for the first time.

Gold then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him and kissed her on the lips. It was a loving and tender kiss that was not so short as to leave her wanting more, yet not so long as for it to progress into anything more.

His right hand slid up her to come to rest so he was cupping her face when he pulled out of the kiss. His face was still just inches from her own and he looked deeply into her eyes. And now it was Emma's turn to be struck speechless. She knew that look; it was the look everyone hoped to see in the eyes of their lover at some point. And for once, that look didn't scare her at all. She welcomed it.

"I love you." It was nearly a whisper. And before Emma could process and respond he began to turn his head away from her as if embarrassed that he'd said it out loud; as if he suspected she wouldn't return the sentiment. He was such a fool sometimes.

She reached out with her right hand and cupped the side of his face and turned his head back to hers. All she did was look back into his eyes the same way he had looked into hers a moment ago. Then she pulled him to her and kissed him, just as sweetly and lovingly as he had her.

"I love you too," she breathed as she broke the kiss.

"You do?" He asked seriously.

"Of course I do," she answered looking into his eyes so he could see the truth in her words. "Now come on, handsome, we've got a Ball to get to."

"Wait, you're missing something," he pointed out.

"What?"

"Your necklace."

"Oh my god, you're right. Where'd I—Ah there it is," she said pointing to the necklace where it lay on the dresser next to Gold. Gracefully, he picked it up and put it on for Emma.

"Perfect," he commented, as he looked her up and down, admiring her.

She looked him up and down in return. "Prefect, indeed. I mean, have I told you how good you look in a suit?"

"Maybe once or twice," he chuckled. "A day…" he added through his laughter.

"Whatever," she said, lightly swatting him on the arm. "Seriously though, we've got to get going or we're going to be late."

"Well we wouldn't want that," he answered sarcastically. But he held out his arm for her to take anyway and together they headed out to Gold's car to go to the Ball.

* * *

Next chapter will FINALLY be the actual Ball...and somewhat sadly, the conclusion of this not-so-little-tale.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: so it's been a lot longer than I intended to get this chapter out but I made up for it by having it be the longest chapter I've written yet. I hope you enjoy the conclusion of this tale. Cheers. Also sorry for any mistakes or anything, I did the whole thing on my phone. I tried to fix everything but I might've missed a few things.

* * *

When they arrived at the convention center where the Ball was being held there were already dozens of townsfolk making their way inside. Everyone was all dressed up just like Emma and Gold were and from what they could see as the pulled in, everyone looked really nice. It wasn't often everyone in town all came together at one place and all looking their best. Emma thought that just maybe this evening wouldn't be so bad.

A few people looked a little surprised to see Gold's car pulling into the parking lot. After all, he had never gone to one of these things before and no doubt people were wondering what exactly he was doing there. Most people knew things with him and Belle had officially ended before he had gone to Neverland and surely they were all wondering who was in the car with him.

Gold and Emma could see several people doing double-takes and squinting trying to see through the tint in Gold's window to get a look at them. Emma figured it would be quite easy for people to recognize that it was her, with her signature blonde curly locks. Passing a small clump of people she could see recognition in a few of their faces and then a completely awed look as the few who saw her turned to the others to share that juicy bit of gossip.

Finally pulling into a spot Emma couldn't decide if she found it amusing the few reactions she'd been able to see or insulting. Not to her, since people would understand why Gold might be interested in Emma but might not understand why she was interested in him. But she was insulted on his behalf. He might not be the best guy in town by some people's standards but he was good to her and understood her and people who had a problem with that could "suck it" so to speak.

"You ready?" Gold asked as he turned off the car and looked over at her.

"Yeah, let's go," she said a little bit of excitement leaking into her voice.

Gold quickly stepped out of the car and hurried as best he could to Emma's side of the car. He then opened her door and held his hand out to her to help her out of the car. She smiled sweetly at him as she stepped out while holding his hand. When she was out and standing, she kissed him lightly on the lips. Out of the corner of her eye she could see several people staring, their mouths practically hitting the ground as they gaped in awe.

Apparently even though some of them could tell it had been her in the car must have tried to tell themselves they had simply rode together, carpooled to save gas money or something. No way were they actually attending the Ball together, as a couple, they thought. They were so, so wrong.

Emma reached up and adjusted Gold's tie quickly before locking arms with him and heading towards the entrance of the hall. People gawked unashamedly at the two of them as they passed and Emma just had to chuckle to herself. It was funny to her how people reacted so obviously. Evidently she'd decided on seeing it in a humorous light. After all if someone had told her a year ago she'd be dating and living with Gold she probably might've laughed herself and thought they were crazy. It's funny how things work out sometimes.

Gold heard her little chuckle. "Something amusing?"

"Yeah. These people, they can't believe I'm here with you," she answered as the continued to walk arm in arm.

"I don't blame them."

"No?"

"No. I can scarcely believe myself, dearie. I can certainly understand why they're so confused. I'm—Well, I'm a questionable character to say the least," he replied.

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're talking about," Emma chastised jokingly tightening her arm around his and pulling him a little bit closer to her.

Gold smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Seriously, screw them, Gold. You're a good guy to me and I love you and that's all that matters." It was much easier getting that special word out the second time now that they'd both said it. Honestly feeling that way about him helped as well. She really did love him.

"Of course. You're right, we love each other and that's what's important. It is rather amusing actually. They're all probably wondering what it is about me that you enjoy enough to agree to date me."

Emma laughed again as a scenario of someone asking that played out in her mind. "If someone asks I'll just waggle my eyebrows suggestively and watch how quickly they scurry away."

This time when Gold smiled, it was completely genuine.

"So, it's official then, you are just using me for my body," he said trying and failing miserably to feign outrage. Instead he broke out into laughter as he said it.

"Duh," she joked back and she dropped her hand and slapped him on the ass before linking her arm in his again. She was pretty sure she heard someone nearby audibly gasp having caught sight of that little action.

Gold hadn't been expecting that either and his eyes went cartoonishly wide as he turned his head to look at her in surprise, the corner of his lip upturning slightly in the classic smirk of his. Emma in turn looked steadfastly ahead of her a mischievous grin on her face as she resolutely ignored him staring at her. He leaned in a placed a small kiss on her cheek and she could feel the smile that graced his lips. Her smile widened at the gesture as they stepped inside the ballroom where many more townspeople were congregating.

Surprisingly, the first person to greet them when they walked in was Ruby. She was dressed in red as well, not surprising really since it was her favorite color and fit her so well. Emma had expected her parents to greet them, Mary Margaret with a sappy smile and David a protective gleam in his eyes.

"Emma! You look great!"

"You helped me pick out this dress," Emma stated the obvious.

"Yes, I know that but I didn't get to see the whole look. The hair, the shoes, the sharp dressed man," she said nodding at Gold.

"Oh, right. Well uh, yeah, thanks. So do I finally get to know you your date is?" Emma asked. Gold was just watching the exchange with a relatively neutral expression. He wasn't too interested in this conversation but he'd endure it for Emma.

"Yeah actually, she just walked in," and she pointed behind Gold and Emma.

She? Well, I wasn't expecting that.

Gold and Emma both whipped around to see who Ruby was talking about. Neither of them had been ready for that bit of information and were really curious who it would be.

Upon seeing Belle in a dark blue dress Emma had to consciously remind herself not to stare wide mouthed at this revelation as so many outside had done to her and Gold earlier. She never would've guessed that but it made as much sense to her as her relationship with Gold if she really thought about it.

Really though, why not? They had gotten to be really close friends quite fast after the curse had been broken. And she suspected that they'd gotten even closer while her and Gold had been off in Neverland. And look what happened as a result of them being off together. Besides there was just no getting around the fact that they'd make one hell of a good looking couple.

Gold on the other hand just looked confused. It seemed as though he were trying to see if someone were maybe hiding behind Belle. Emma cleared her throat and nudged him slightly to help him get to the conclusion that Belle was the date.

Turning back to face Ruby Emma said, "and here I though Gold and I would be the talk of the Ball."

Ruby just laughed. "Yeah well I thought me and Belle would be for sure but you guys haven't seen who Regina's here with," and she inclined her head over to the corner of the room.

This time Emma couldn't help but let her jaw drop wide open. Gold gripped his cane tightly and his lips went in to a thin, thin line. Emma squeezed his hand in hers as a warning for him to behave himself.

"What's everyone looking at?" Belle asked as she came up beside the three of them. Then she turned her head in the direction they were all looking. She snorted loudly and hands down that was the best reaction to the whole situation. "No! Regina and Bae! Well I think that ruins our chances of winning most surprising couple," she added to Ruby as she made her way to her side and gave her a quick kiss in greeting.

"Gold," Emma began, voice full of warning. "Just remember how well Neal took it when you told him about us. And try to remember that you two, Regina and you, have been on better terms since we got back."

"Damn it, dearie, why must you always be so reasonable?" He half quipped.

"Because I know that it meant a lot to you that he accepted our relationship and it would be pretty shitty if you didn't afford him the same courtesy," she said, effectively shamming him into submission.

"You're right...of course," he added the last two words under his breath. "Just another reason I love you," he said and gave her a light peck on the lips. He too was surprised how much easier it was to say that word after having done it once already and he didn't mean it any less.

"Anyway," Emma said returning her attention to Ruby and Belle. "Nice to see you again, Belle. You look amazing...both of you."

"Thanks," the both answered in unison. Then they looked at each other and giggled.

"You look wonderful as well," Belle said to Emma. "And you look handsome, Rumple," she added.

"Thank you. You do look very lovely this evening. And I must say the two of you make a very good looking couple."

Well he's handling this pretty well, Emma thought. It filled her with great joy that he wasn't hurt in someway by this revelation or jealous or something. She was pretty sure he was well over Belle but his response sort of confirmed that for her.

"Wow, a compliment from Mr. Gold. Is this a strange dream?" Ruby asked jokingly.

"I have been known to offer compliments on occasion. And on that note, I would thank you for your excellent plan of dress shopping with Emma and helping her pick out this dress and that mystery one she won't let me see," he replied.

"Oh yes, the secret dress. You won't be disappointed," and she winked at the two of them.

And just then, Mary Margaret and David made their way over to their small group that had formed.

"Oh, Emma!" Mary Margaret cooed. "You look so beautiful!" She looked almost like she was going to cry. "Let me see the rest of the dress," she demanded.

Gold helped her complete her mother's request by holding her arm in the air and twirling her. After a quick turn around he spun her back into his arms and held her tightly her back to him and his arm wrapped in front of her his left hand holding her right. Then, quite spontaneously he dipped her like they do in old movies and he kissed her.

Show off, She thought when he'd righted her again and turned his attention back to the others, though keeping an arm firmly around her waist. And then Mary Margaret had to go and clap for his little show. Back to his regular old show-offy self. His head would never deflate after that now.

"Woah!" Emma exclaimed.

Gold simply smiled and looked at her. "Even I don't know where that one came from, dearie."

"You do look very beautiful tonight, Emma," David chimed in. "How about all of us," he gestured to the group at large "go and grab a table before the dinner starts," he suggested.

Everyone nodded their assent and found an empty table. As they all took their seats they noticed that there were two empty seats and they all exchanged weary glances with one another guessing who might occupy those seats. Emma tried to remind herself that they were on much better terms after having saved Henry almost friends even but sometimes things were still a little bit awkward. Add the fact that Regina was apparently dating Henry's father and Emma was dating Neal's father/Henry's grandfather to the mix of having them all sitting at the same table, it might be weird.

Not five minutes later after they had all settled in at the table and started striking up some small talk did Neal walk over, clap his hand on Gold's back and say "hey, dad," to announce his presence.

"Hello, Bae," he said as he stood to give his son a quick hug. "Looking handsome," he added and then "you're not too bad yourself, your highness," he added to Regina. Everyone was astonished that he'd managed to keep the sarcasm out of his tone and actually appear to be sincere. Emma wasn't sold though; the wounds between those two would take another few centuries to overcome.

"Thank you, Gold. This is the first time I've seen you here, finally find yourself someone to accompany you," she said failing a bit to keep the acid from her tone.

"As a matter of fact, I did. Ms. Swan here," he nodded towards her, "agreed to accompany me this year."

"Is that so?" She asked, clearly not believing the words.

"It is," Emma piped up.

"Uhm, why don't you two join us here at our table," Mary Margaret offered, breaking up that conversation before it escalated any. "We've got two more open seats."

"Yeah, that'd be great," Neal answered as he took a seat. Regina barely controlled her eyes from rolling. It was true they were all on much better terms than they were before Neverland but they'd spent plenty of time in each other's company during that time, enough to last quite a while in Regina's opinion.

For about the next hour, the eight of them conversed rather congenially, considering. There was a whole lot of small talk going on and a whole lot of sharing about how these relationships that were considered quite odd had begun. For the most part the dinner passed smoothly. Only every so often did someone make a sarcastic jab at someone else but it was all in good fun. The group had a surprisingly good time. And luckily the conversations were flowing well enough that nobody seemed to notice that Emma wasn't drinking.

During breaks between meals some of them got up to go visit other tables and talk with their other friends and the other townspeople. When they all came back to each other and shared the conversations they'd had Emma had found out that her and Gold were quite the talk of the town.

It seemed as though if there were to be some sort of competition on the most surprising couple it actually did end up being them. It was very close with that of Neal and Regina, with Ruby and Belle coming up last in that race. Apparently many people in town had already suspected there was something between the two, at least those who saw the two interact in public.

As the plates were all cleared away, the band (a local one of course) began to play some soft, romantic kind of music. Several couples throughout the giant hall they were in stood and made their way to the dance floor. Ruby and Belle were among the first to rise. Regina simply gave Neal a look that said they would not be dancing at this Ball, at least not until she'd had a few more appletinis.

Gold turned to Emma, silently asking if she would like to dance.

"Oh, we don't have to," she said and before she could stop herself her eyes dropped to his bad leg. As she suspected, he immediately frowned at her.

"I assure you, dearie, my leg will be just fine, so long as the music doesn't pick up speed," he said and then he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Besides, you are quite worth a little temporary pain," and then he kissed her cheek, right at the corner of her mouth. Then he stood and held his hand out to her for her to take. She grabbed it and let him lead her onto the dance floor sans cane.

Emma had to admit for a man with a lame leg he was able to dance quite well. It hardly seemed to affect it at all really. Though now that she thought about it, this wasn't the first time his injured leg hadn't been a problem in certain activities. There was one time he carried her all the way up the stairs to his bedroom a few weeks ago and she had completely forgotten for a moment that he had a bad leg.

"That dinner was pretty nice," Emma said as they danced.

"Indeed, it was. Much better than I would've expected given who was at our table. It really was like the start to some joke, 'Snow White, the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin and the Big Bad Wolf are all sitting at a table…' well I don't quite have a punch line."

Emma chuckled lightly, and Gold relished in the sound of it, and the way she looked as she did it. The corners of her eyes got all wrinkly and her lips parted just slightly, just enough for him to see the white of her teeth. It was adorable and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

"I'm really glad you asked me to do this. I've had a lot of fun, not just tonight but this whole week preparing for it. I never got to do anything like this before. I never got to go to prom or anything and the life of an orphan isn't quite this glamorous," she said pulling him close and nuzzling her head into his neck, almost whispering into his ear, as his hands rested on her hips as they swayed back and forth.

"I will be eternally grateful that the opportunity presented itself. I know deep down we are right for each other, maybe even made for each other but a little piece of me will always wonder how I came to be so lucky," he whispered back.

"That's funny, because I think the same thing sometimes."

"You?" He questioned.

"Yes, me," she returned. "That seems to be another thing we have in common; we can be so hard on ourselves sometimes, always thinking people deserve better than us. But maybe, just maybe we both deserve each other…in like a good way," she amended suddenly realizing that may not have sounded as romantic and endearing as she intended it to.

He chuckled and his breath tickled the sensitive skin of her neck making her shiver involuntarily as gooseflesh rose along her arms.

"Of course," he said. "I too had a very nice time tonight. It was nice to finally be able to come to this and enjoy it with a beautiful woman at my side. And I'm especially pleased to find out that in that unofficial tournament to decide who is the most surprising couple we came out on top" he went on, pulling away a bit so he could look her in the eyes.

"Yeah, well you always like being on top, don't you?" She retorted, realizing too late the innuendo.

And of course Gold realized it too and began waggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"You should know better than anyone, dearie," he joked. Though that wasn't necessarily true, the whole who-gets-to-be-on-top thing was hardly ever considered. It just depended on the mood really who ended up on top…that's if they even made it to being horizontal.

"Ok, that's not what I meant and you know it," she chastised him. All he did was let out his signature breathy chuckle.

"Whatever you say, dearie," he said through his laughter.

Back at the table, David watched as Gold and Emma danced, Mary Margaret had run off to the bathroom and hadn't returned yet, he suspected she was lost amongst the crowd of people talking to some long lost friend or something. Though he wasn't really too thrilled about the idea of his daughter dating Rumplestiltskin, he couldn't help but remember the conversation he'd had with Gold the previous week.

He remembered how earnest Gold had been as he spoke about how this all hadn't been some big plan of his and that he was just as surprised at the relationship as anyone else. Plus he'd looked pretty sincere when he said that he had absolutely no intention of doing anything that would cause Emma to leave him. And that was good because Emma had had enough of being abandoned in her life, she didn't need anymore of that.

As he watched them he had to admit that the only time he'd ever seen Emma's eyes light up the way they were as she danced with Gold was when she was with Henry. It was love. True love? Maybe, just maybe. He smiled in spite of himself as he watched the two laugh as they danced.

David also couldn't help but notice that Gold also seemed to be the happiest he'd ever seen him apart from when he found out that Neal hadn't died when he fell through that portal. That same glimmer he saw in Emma's eyes that look of love seemed to be in Gold's eyes as well. David's heart swelled a little bit at the realization that his daughter was happy and apparently in love. That's really all a father ever wants for his daughter. So, he vowed to himself right then that he wouldn't question the sincerity of their relationship ever again.

"She looks happy doesn't she?" Mary Margaret asked, coming back to sit beside him.

"Yeah, she does," David answered. "I think I actually mean it this time when I say I won't try to interfere or question Gold's motives or Emma's sanity," he said with a light chuckle.

"Good to know."

Back on the dance floor Gold happened to glance Mary Margaret and David watching them.

"Oh, looks like we've got an audience, dearie," he said to Emma as they danced.

Emma turned her head to see where Gold was looking and too saw her parents watching them. Then she turned and looked around the rest of the Ballroom and saw that her parents weren't the only ones watching them curiously. Several groups of people were looking their way and then turning to each other and whispering into each other's ears.

"Yeah, I see that," she said. "We really have caused quite the stir here tonight."

"Well if this is the sort of thing people are talking about with regards to me, I suppose it could be worse…has been worse. They can talk about you and I all they want."

"Fair enough," she started. "But I think I'm done with being the center of attention for one night…what do you say we head back home?"

"I think I could live with that," he answered.

As soon as they made it back home, they headed straight up to the bedroom. Gold kissed her passionately the second they made it there. When he started to reach around to unzip her dress, however, Emma stopped him.

He looked at her questioningly.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just exhausted and would really just like to get some sleep."

"And how do you know I wasn't simply attempting to help you get out of your dress, dearie?"

"I well—Well is that all you were doing?" She asked.

"Well of course now I'm going to say yes that's all I was doing," he joked. "But either way that's perfectly all right I'm a bit tired myself and admittedly my leg is a bit sore after dancing."

"Ok, great, um…well can you help me get out of this dress?"

"As you wish," he said and then helped her out of it.

While Emma went about getting her pajamas on, Gold quickly ran to the bathroom. It was when he was washing his hands that he happened to look down and notice something in the trashcan. He bent down a bit to get a better look and noticed that it seemed to be a pregnancy test.

For a moment he hesitated, wondering whether he should pull it out and look at it. He couldn't read the results of it without taking it out of the trashcan. His eyes flickered to the door of the bathroom where Emma was just on the other side of it and wondered if she would be angry if he looked. If she didn't want him to know he thought it was rather silly of her to take the test at his home and not somewhere else.

If the test were positive then he thought she must've been happy with the results since she'd said she loved him after she would've taken the test. Unless she had lied to him and didn't love him he thought. Or the test could be negative and well he just had to know. So he reached down and pulled the thing out of the garbage.

Just as he was looking at and saw the little plus sign indicating the test had been positive, Emma called to him from the bedroom. He tossed the test back into the garbage and went to Emma.

"Before we go to bed there's something I gotta talk to you about," she stared and before she could go on any further Gold captured her lips in a searing kiss. This woman was going to bear his child and he couldn't be happier. Emma kissed him back just as enthusiastically even though she'd been caught off guard a bit by it.

"Damn," she started when the parted. "That was on hell of a kiss!"

"I just...I really love you, Emma."

"I know," she said and she kissed him again. "But I still have to talk to you about something."

"I know," he said and then again really emphasizing his words. "I saw the test in the garbage," he explained.

"Damn it, Gold," she said slapping him playfully on the chest. "I wanted to tell you. It was gonna be a whole thing and you ruined it."

"I'm sorry, dearie," he said leaning in to kiss her again.

"So I guess this means you don't mind, you're not upset."

"Of course I'm not upset. Why would I be upset?"

"I don't know, it's just-it's not like this was planned or anything and we've never talked about it before or anything not expecting this to happen so soon so I had no idea how you'd feel about being a father again after so long and everything," she said rambling really fast.

"I don't mind at all. In fact, I'm ecstatic. Nothing would make me happier right now that to be having a child with you, Emma," he said.

"Really?"

"Yes." And he kissed her once more. "Now why don't we both get in bed and get some rest. You're going to need all the rest you can get before that baby comes."

"You don't have to tell me twice," she said and then the two of them climbed into bed together and fell into their usual bedtime embrace with Emma cuddled up next to him and his arms wrapped tightly around her body.


End file.
